three o'clock until
four
With the passage of five years the general manager was high and low justice in Cappy 's offices , and had mastered the not-too-difficult art of dominating his employer , for Cappy seldom seriously disagreed with those he trusted . He saved all his fighting force for his competitors . However , Cappy 's interest in the Blue Star Navigation Company did not wane with the cessation of his activities as chief kicker . Ordinarily , Mr. Skinner bossed the navigation company as he bossed the lumber business , for Cappy 's private office was merely headquarters for receiving mail , reading the newspapers , receiving visitors , smoking an after-luncheon cigar , and having a little nap from three o'clock until four , at which hour Cappy laid aside the cares of business and put in two hours at bridge in his club . Despite this apparent indifference to business , however , Mr. Skinner handled the navigation company with gloves ; for , if Cappy dozed in his office , he had a habit of keeping one eye open , so to speak , and every little while he would wake up and veto an order of Skinner 's , of which the latter would have been willing to take an oath Cappy had never heard . In the matter of engaging new skippers or discharging old ones Mr. Skinner had to be very careful . Cappy always declared that any clerk can negotiate successfully a charter at the going rates in a stiff market , but skippers are , in the final analysis , the Genii of the Dividends .