two o’clock
Lucy in vain dwelt upon the advantage of having found , immediately upon my arrival in Philadelphia , a certain mode of employment , and a probability of rising to be a partner in one of the first mercantile houses , if I went on steadily for a few years . I was forced to acknowledge that her relation was very good ; that I was certainly very fortunate ; and that I ought to think myself very much obliged to Mr. Croft . But , after avowing all this , I walked up and down the room in melancholy reverie for a considerable length of time . My wife reminded me repeatedly that Mr. Croft said he dined precisely at two o'clock ; that he was a very punctual man ; that it was a long walk , as I had found it , from the inn to his house ; that I had better dress myself for dinner ; and that my clean shirt and cravat were ready for me . I still walked up and down the room in reverie till my wife was completely ready , had dressed the child , and held up my watch before my eyes to show me that it wanted but ten minutes of two . I then began to dress in the greatest hurry imaginable : and , unluckily , as I was pulling on my silk stocking , I tore a hole in the leg , or as my wife expressed it , a stitch dropped , and I was forced to wait while she repaired the evil . Certainly this operation of _ taking up a stitch _ , as I am instructed to call it , is one of the slowest operations in nature ; or , rather , one of the most tedious and teazing manoeuvres of art .