about two o'clock
Elegant gentlemen behind the counter shovelled gold to and fro with the same casual indifference as I had seen grocers ' assistants shovel tea . One of them , a gorgeous fellow wearing a white piqué tie and a horse-shoe pin , paid such deference to Paragot that I went out prodigiously impressed by my master 's importance . I was convinced that he owned the establishment , and during the next quarter of an hour I could not speak to him for awe . It was about two o'clock when we reached Victoria Station . There Paragot discovered , for the first time , that there was not a train till nine in the evening . It had not occurred to him that trains did not start for Paris at quarter of an hour intervals during the day . `` My son , '' said he , `` now is the time to make practical use of our philosophy .