one o'clock
That in which he now sought release and distraction was not the _ magnum opus _ of Messrs. Sears-Roebuck , but the work of a less practical and popular writer , being in fact the `` Eve of St. Agnes , '' by John Keats . Soothed and dreamy , he put out the lights , climbed to his living quarters above the office , and fell asleep . It was then eleven-thirty and his official day had terminated five hours earlier . At one o'clock he arose and patiently descended the stairs again . Some one was hammering on the door . He opened without inquiry , which was not the part of wisdom in that country and at that hour . His pocket-flash gleamed on a thin young man in a black-rubber coat who , with head and hands retracted as far as possible from the pouring rain , resembled a disconsolate turtle with an insufficient carapace .