seven o'clock
Of the three only the clergyman had a name which bespoke Anglo-Saxon ancestry . These three men accompanied him to the home of the editor , where they dined together ; and when the dinner was ended an automobile bore the party through a heavy snowstorm to the hall where Mallard was to speak . That is to say , it bore the party to within a block and a half of the hall . It could get no nearer than that by reason of the fact that the narrow street from house line on one side to house line on the other was jammed with men and women , thousands of them , who , coming too late to secure admission to the hall -- the hall was crowded as early as seven o'clock -- had stayed on , outside , content to see their champion and to cheer him since they might not hear him . They were half frozen . The snow in which they stood had soaked their shoes and chilled their feet ; there were holes in the shoes which some of them wore . The snow stuck to their hats and clung on their shoulders , making streaks there like fleecy epaulets done in the colour of peace , which also is the colour of cowardice and surrender .