five
in the afternoon
He is almost the only man to whom Bludyer is civil ; for , if the latter will fight doggedly when there is a necessity for so doing , the former fights like an Irishman , and has a pleasure in it . He has been `` on the ground '' I do n't know how many times , and quitted his country on account of a quarrel with Government regarding certain articles published by him in the Phoenix newspaper . With the third bottle , he becomes overpoweringly great on the wrongs of Ireland , and at that period generally volunteers a couple or more of Irish melodies , selecting the most melancholy in the collection . At five in the afternoon , you are sure to see him about the House of Commons , and he knows the `` Reform Club '' -LRB- he calls it the Refawrum -RRB- as well as if he were a member . It is curious for the contemplative mind to mark those mysterious hangers-on of Irish members of Parliament -- strange runners and aides-de-camp which all the honourable gentlemen appear to possess . Desmond , in his political capacity , is one of these , and besides his calling as reporter to a newspaper , is `` our well-informed correspondent '' of that famous Munster paper , the Green Flag of Skibbereen . With Mr. Mulligan 's qualities and history I only became subsequently acquainted .