eleven o'clock
A verdict of `` accidental death '' was given accordingly . But poor Wright 's sad end made no difference in the drunkenness of Crossbourne ; indeed , Ned and his two companions in that awful night 's adventure dared not leave their old haunts and ways , even had they wished to do so , lest any change in their habits should arouse suspicion against them . So Alcohol still maintained his sway over a vast body of loyal subjects in the busy town , and gathered in the spoils of desolate homes , broken hearts , and shattered constitutions . The express train which passed through Crossbourne station between ten and eleven o'clock on the night when Joe Wright met with his sad end , arrived in London about three a.m. the following morning . It was heavily laden , for it conveyed a large number of persons from the north , who were coming up to the metropolis to spend Christmas with their friends . From a first-class carriage about the middle of the train there emerged a heap of coats and wraps , surmounted by a fur cap , the whole enclosing a gentleman of middle age and middle height , with black beard and moustache , and gold-rimmed spectacles . `` Cab , sir ? ''