nearly eight o'clock
In fact , I am not at all certain but that a few English newspaper editors might be found capable of accepting a bribe , if large enough , and if offered with due delicacy . There are surely one or two magazines , for instance , in London , that would not altogether refuse to insert an indifferently , even badly written article , if paid a thousand pounds down for doing it ! On the last day but one of my sojourn in Palermo I was reclining in an easy-chair at the window of the hotel smoking-room , looking out on the shimmering waters of the gulf . It was nearly eight o'clock , and though the gorgeous colors of the sunset still lingered in the sky , the breeze blew in from the sea somewhat coldly , giving warning of an approaching chilly night . The character I had adopted , namely that of a somewhat harsh and cynical man who had seen life and did not like it , had by constant hourly practice become with me almost second nature -- indeed , I should have had some difficulty in returning to the easy and thoughtless abandon of my former self . I had studied the art of being churlish till I really WAS churlish ; I had to act the chief character in a drama , and I knew my part thoroughly well . I sat quietly puffing at my cigar and thinking of nothing in particular -- for , as far as my plans went , I had done with thought , and all my energies were strung up to action -- when I was startled by a loud and increasing clamor , as of the shouting of a large crowd coming onward like an overflowing tide .