nine o'clock
`` Rum is the scourge of our American civilization , '' remarked Eustace , warmly . `` Barney Skeyhan 's rum would scourge anybody 's civilization , '' I said . `` Of course I meant _ all _ civilization , '' suggested Eustace , in polite help to my lame understanding . Precisely at nine o'clock Potts issued from Skeyhan 's , bearing his bag , cane , and _ Argus _ as before . He looked up and down the quiet street interestedly , then crossed over to Hermann Hoffmuller 's , another establishment in which our civilization was especially menaced . He was followed cordially by five of Little Arcady 's lesser citizens , who had obviously sustained the relation of guests to him at Skeyhan 's . In company with Westley Keyts and Eubanks , I watched this procession from the windows of the City Hotel .