9:30
He was fluent and direct ; he allowed it to appear that he read more than his prayers , that his glance at the world had still a speculation in it ; and when he went away , he left Alicia with flushed cheeks and brightened eyes , murmuring a vague inward corollary upon her day -- `` It pays ! It pays ! '' Mr. Llewellyn Stanhope 's Company was not the only combination that offered itself to the entertainment of Calcutta that December Saturday night . The ever-popular Jimmy Finnigan and his `` Surprise Party '' -- he sailed up the Bay as regularly as the Viceroy descended from the hills -- had been advertising `` Side-splitting begins at 9:30 . Prices as usual , '' with reference to this particular evening for a fortnight . In the Athenian Theatre -- it had a tin roof , and nobody could hear the orchestra when it rained -- the Midgets were presenting the earlier collaborations of Messrs. Gilbert and Sullivan , every Midget guaranteed under nine years of age . Colonel Pike 's Great Occidental Circus had been in full blast on the Maidan for a week .