about ten o'clock in
the morning
With which reflection I rose from the table , and , adopting the advice contained in the spurious Johnsonian quotation proceeded to `` take a walk in Fleet Street '' before settling down for the evening . The association of coal with potatoes is one upon which I have frequently speculated , without arriving at any more satisfactory explanation than that both products are of the earth , earthy . Of the connection itself Barnard 's practice furnished several instances besides Mrs. Jablett 's establishment in Fleur-de-Lys Court , one of which was a dark and mysterious cavern a foot below the level of the street , that burrowed under an ancient house on the west side of Fetter Lane -- a crinkly , timber house of the three-decker type that leaned back drunkenly from the road as if about to sit down in its own back yard . Passing this repository of the associated products about ten o'clock in the morning , I perceived in the shadow of the cavern no less a person than Miss Oman . She saw me at the same moment , and beckoned peremptorily with a hand that held a large Spanish onion . I approached with a deferential smile . `` What a magnificent onion , Miss Oman !