three o'clock
`` Morrison was n't an absolute idiot . '' The luncheon hour passed . The excitement in the city grew . By three o'clock , ten thousand pounds would have covered all of Laverick 's engagements . Just before closing-time , it was even doubtful whether he might not have borrowed every penny without security at all . He took it all quite calmly and as a matter of course . He left the office a little earlier than usual , and every man whom he met stopped to slap him on the back and chaff him .