one in the morning
He probably reflected that whichever way his client might be wrung , it would be impossible to squeeze out a centime , so he put in a few brief words to rid the office of a bad customer . `` It is the truth , monsieur . The chief only works at night . If your business is important , I recommend you to return at one in the morning . '' The stranger looked at the head clerk with a bewildered expression , and remained motionless for a moment . The clerks , accustomed to every change of countenance , and the odd whimsicalities to which indecision or absence of mind gives rise in `` parties , '' went on eating , making as much noise with their jaws as horses over a manger , and paying no further heed to the old man . `` I will come again to-night , '' said the stranger at length , with the tenacious desire , peculiar to the unfortunate , to catch humanity at fault .