eight o'clock
In the mood of tender melancholy common to unaccustomed early rising he dwelt fondly on the thought of Titania , so near and yet so far away . He had leisure to give free rein to these musings , for it was ten past seven before Roger appeared , hurrying toward the subway . Aubrey followed at a discreet distance , taking care not to be observed . The bookseller and his pursuer both boarded the eight o'clock train at the Pennsylvania Station , but in very different moods . To Roger , this expedition was a frolic , pure and simple . He had been tied down to the bookshop so long that a day 's excursion seemed too good to be true . He bought two cigars -- an unusual luxury -- and let the morning paper lie unheeded in his lap as the train drummed over the Hackensack marshes .