five o'clock
It was , after all , out of that limbo that Jimmy had spoken of as the margin of the unforeseeable , that the blind instrument of Fate appeared . He was a country lawyer from down-state , who , for a client of his own , had retained Rodney to defend a will that presented complexities in the matter of perpetuities and contingent remainders utterly beyond his own powers . He 'd been in Chicago three or four days , spending an hour or two of every day in Rodney 's office in consultation with him , and , for the rest of the time , dangling about , more or less at a loose end . A belated sense of this struck Rodney when , at the end of their last consultation , the country lawyer shook hands with him and announced his departure for home on the five o'clock train . `` I 'm sorry I have n't been able to do more , '' Rodney said , -- `` do anything really , in the way of showing you a good time . As a matter of fact , I 've spent every evening this week here in the office . '' `` Oh , I have n't lacked for entertainment , '' the man said .