seven o'clock precisely
Mericarp had earned the reputation of being ` a good landlord . ' Constance said sadly : `` We shall never have another as good ! '' When a lawyer 's clerk called and asked her to permit the exhibition of a poster in each of her shop-windows , she had misgivings for the future ; she was worried ; she decided that she would determine the lease next year , so as to be on the safe side ; but immediately afterwards she decided that she could decide nothing . The posters continued : `` To be sold by auction , at the Tiger Hotel at six-thirty for seven o'clock precisely . '' What six-thirty had to do with seven o'clock precisely no one knew . Then , after stating the name and credentials of the auctioneer , the posters at length arrived at the objects to be sold : `` All those freehold messuages and shops and copyhold tenements namely . '' Houses were never sold by auction in Bursley .