five o’clock
What would become of that poor little fellow ? To what early death , what life of suffering or wretchedness , or even crime , had he been thus brutally cast ? But the cab continued rolling on , and for a long while neither Mathieu nor La Couteau spoke again . It was only when the latter alighted in the Rue de Miromesnil that she began to lament , on seeing that it was already half-past five o'clock , for she felt certain that she would miss her train , particularly as she still had some accounts to settle and that other child upstairs to fetch . Mathieu , who had intended to keep the cab and drive to the Northern terminus , then experienced a feeling of curiosity , and thought of witnessing the departure of the nurse-agents . So he calmed La Couteau by telling her that if she would make haste he would wait for her . And as she asked for a quarter of an hour , it occurred to him to speak to Norine again , and so he also went upstairs .