ten o'clock
Nothing more was said of the dream or the apparition , real or fancied , of Lord Hartledon : Clerk Gum did not encourage the familiar handling of such topics in everyday life . He breakfasted , devoted an hour to his own business in the little office , and then put on his coat to go out . It was Friday morning . On that day and on Wednesdays the church was open for baptisms , and it was the clerk 's custom to go over at ten o'clock and apprize the Rector of any notices he might have had . Passing in at the iron gates , the large white house rose before him , beyond the wide lawn . It had been built by Dr. Ashton at his own expense . The old Rectory was a tumbledown , inconvenient place , always in dilapidation , for as soon as one part of it was repaired another fell through ; and the Rector opened his heart and his purse , both large and generous , and built a new one .