six o'clock
Here was my only kinsman , in a strange city , without friends , money , or hopeful outlook . My course lay before me as straight as a turnpike . I had a great deal of family pride , even if I did not have any family to speak of , and I was resolved that what little I had should not perish for want of proper sustenance . Shortly before six o'clock Washington Flagg again presented himself at our doorstep , and obtained admission to the house with fewer difficulties than he had encountered earlier in the day . I do not think I ever saw a man in destitute circumstances so entirely cheerful as my cousin was . Neither the immediate past , which must have been full of hardships , nor the immediate future , which was not lavish of its promises , seemed to give him any but a momentary and impersonal concern . At the supper-table he talked much and well , exceedingly well , I thought , except when he touched on the war , which he was continually doing , and then I was on tenter-hooks .