2 o'clock
With a shrug in dismissal of the inconsequential , Mr. Podmore went to lunch . He had comfortable quarters at the Queen 's Hotel , just a block from the Union Station , and after a light lunch in the big dining-room he idled about the rambling old rotunda for an hour or more , smoking many cigarettes and attempting to read a magazine . The solicitous anxiety of his waiter during luncheon had earned that surprised individual a rebuke and cost him the usual tip ; the friendly advances of a hotel guest , which ordinarily would have been met by equal geniality , finally sent Podmore up in the old-fashioned elevator to his room , where he locked the door and began pacing restlessly back and forth . Not until a sixth glance at his watch indicated the approach of 2 o'clock did his unusual fidgetiness begin to disappear ; but when at last he walked briskly out of the hotel Mr. Podmore , to all intents , had regained his normal self-possession . He went straight to the down-town offices of the Alderson Construction Company , arriving punctual to the minute of his appointment . Both Nickleby and Alderson were already there . `` Well , we 're all here , Alderson .