Six o'clock
If it was an entertaining subject they 'd buy the life of James J. Hill and not one of these long office tragedies that harp along on the significance of smoke -- '' `` And gloom , '' said Tom . `` That 's another favorite , though I 'll admit the Russians have the monopoly . Our specialty is stories about little girls who break their spines and get adopted by grouchy old men because they smile so much . You 'd think we were a race of cheerful cripples and that the common end of the Russian peasant was suicide -- '' `` Six o'clock , '' said Amory , glancing at his wrist-watch . `` I 'll buy you a grea ' big dinner on the strength of the Juvenalia of your collected editions . '' ***** July sweltered out with a last hot week , and Amory in another surge of unrest realized that it was just five months since he and Rosalind had met .