two
o'clock
This was about ten o'clock . Two hours later it was discovered that one of the minor bookkeepers , a new employe who had come well recommended about a month before , had just absconded with all he could lay his hands on -- only a few thousand dollars -- the merest trifle of a loss to Rockharrt & Sons , but extremely exasperating under the circumstances . So taking one provocation with another , at noon on that 13th of November old Aaron Rockharrt was about the maddest man on the face of the earth . It was his custom to lunch with his sons in the private parlor of Mr. Clarence 's suit of rooms at the North End Hotel , every day at two o'clock . To-day , however , he showed no disposition to eat or drink . And although the two younger men were famishing for food they dared not go to lunch without him , or even urge him to make an effort to go with them . It was then three o'clock , an hour later than their usual hour , that Mr. Rockharrt made a movement in the desired way by rising , stretching his limbs , and saying : `` We will go over to the hotel and get something to eat . ''