eight o'clock
`` I sha n't mention them in the booklet unless they specially ask me to , '' I said with a grin . We are always facetious when a new job comes up . I should not be surprised if the immortals were much the same . Catching the eight o'clock express is with us rather a legend than a solid fact , in spite of our vaunted breakfast at half after seven . One has to shave , collect the necessary papers , put on one 's boots , pocket tobacco and matches , run upstairs for a fresh handkerchief , things that somehow or other take time . As a rule we find ourselves halfway to the station , running breathlessly , only to find that we have two left-hand gloves , or that some vitally important document has been left behind . The seasoned commuter , by long and arduous practice , eliminates these errors ; but we , who go to New York but once in a week or so , are unskilled in early morning hustles , and generally see the tail-end of the express disappearing in the cutting .