about ten o'clock
in the morning
Thus it happened that , although one of the managers of the Briar street mission and familiar with its work in a general way , he had never been at the mission-house -- had never , in fact , set his foot within the morally plague-stricken district in which it stood . He had often been urged to go , but could not overcome his reluctance to meet humanity face to face in its sadder and more degraded aspects . Now a necessity was upon him , and he had to go . It was about ten o'clock in the morning when , at almost a single step , he passed from what seemed paradise to purgatory , the sudden contrast was so great . There were but few persons in the little street ; where the mission was situated at that early hour , and most of these were children -- poor , half-clothed , dirty , wan-faced , keen-eyed and alert bits of humanity , older by far than their natural years , few of them possessing any higher sense of right and wrong than young savages . The night 's late orgies or crimes had left most of their elders in a heavy morning sleep , from which they did not usually awaken before midday . Here and there one and another came creeping out , impelled by a thirst no water could quench .