eight o'clock
By as much as he was more finely gifted than other men , was the stain of sin upon his soul more ineffaceable ? Last night , ignorance was the only evil ; but had he been satisfied with less wisdom , might he not have sinned with more impunity ? Nevertheless , Balder Helwyse would hardly have been willing to purchase greater ease at the price of being less a man . The steamer descended the narrow and swift current of East River , rounded Castle Garden , and reached her pier before eight o'clock . Shoulder to shoulder with the other passengers , Helwyse descended the gangplank . The official who took his ticket eyed him so closely that there was the beginning of an impulse in his weary brain to knock the fellow down . Finding himself not interfered with , however , he passed on to the rattling street , beginning to understand that the attention he excited was not owing to a visible brand of Cain , but to his beard and hair which were at variance with the fashion of that day .