eight o'clock
`` I 'm afraid there is no time for that , '' he answered . `` But will you attend to that end of the affair for me , Walter ? I have just a little more work here at the laboratory before I am ready . I do n't care how you do it , but I want you to convey to Sherburne the welcome news that Mrs. Seabury is prepared to give in , in any way he may see fit , if he will call her up here at eight o'clock . '' Kennedy had already plunged back among his beakers and test tubes , and with these slender instructions I sallied forth in my quest of Sherburne . I had little difficulty in locating him and delivering my message , which he received with a satisfaction that invited assault and battery and mayhem . However , I managed to restrain myself and rejoin Craig in the laboratory , shortly after seven o'clock .