three o'clock
Passepartout had at last found something to do . He was engaged to act in the celebrated Japanese troupe . It was not a very dignified position , but within a week he would be on his way to San Francisco . The performance , so noisily announced by the Honorable Mr. Batulcar , was to commence at three o'clock , and soon the deafening instruments of a Japanese orchestra resounded at the door . Passepartout , though he had not been able to study or rehearse a part , was designated to lend the aid of his sturdy shoulders in the great exhibition of the `` human pyramid , '' executed by the Long Noses of the god Tingou . This `` great attraction '' was to close the performance . Before three o'clock the large shed was crowded with spectators , Europeans and natives , Chinese and Japanese , men , women and children , who precipitated themselves upon the narrow benches and into the boxes opposite the stage .