about ten o'clock
We found next morning that Mrs. Handsomebody and Mary Ellen had never gone back to bed all night , but had kept watch in the dining-room till daylight , when Mary Ellen had been dispatched to find a policeman . He was in the kitchen now , a commanding figure , making notes in a little book ; and seeming to derive great benefit from his conversation with Mary Ellen . A new arrival was a wheeled-chair to convey Mrs. Handsomebody to 5 Argyle Road . Therefore , about ten o'clock , after the most exhausting preparations , we set out , a singular party ; Mrs. Handsomebody enthroned in the chair , mistress of herself -LRB- and every one else -RRB- her black-gloved hands crossed on her lap ; Mary Ellen , hot , straining over the wheeled-chair , lest her mistress get an unseemly bump at the crossing ; Angel and I , bearing between us a covered hamper containing the three pups ; while Giftie and The Seraph in the abandon of youth and ignorance , sported on the outskirts of the group . The way was long , and our arms ached with the weight of the hamper , when we stopped before the gate of Number 5 Argyle Road . It was an imposing house in its own grounds ; large clipped trees stood about ; and a bent old gardener was doing something to one of those , while a tall grey-haired woman in mannish tweeds superintended the work . A Scottish terrier , fit mate for Giftie , was digging furiously at the root of the tree .