two in the afternoon
`` You ought to ship that office-boy of yours , if he ca n't keep things cleaner , '' he said , suspending his melody to eye grimly the dust which Mr. Bowers had shaken from his departing feet . The editor did not look up until he had finished revising a difficult paragraph . By that time Mr. Hamlin had comfortably settled himself on a cane sofa , and , possibly out of deference to his surroundings , had subdued his song to a peculiarly low , soft , and heartbreaking whistle as he unfolded a newspaper . Clean and faultless in his appearance , he had the rare gift of being able to get up at two in the afternoon with much of the dewy freshness and all of the moral superiority of an early riser . `` You ought to have been here just now , Jack , '' said the editor . `` Not a row , old man , eh ? '' inquired Jack , with a faint accession of interest .