about
nine o’clock
Everything was new to me , for everything is different in London from what it is elsewhere -- the people , their language , the horses , the _ tout ensemble _ -- even the stones of London are different from others -- at least it appeared to me that I had never walked with the same ease and facility on the flagstones of a country town as on those of London ; so I continued roving about till night came on , and then the splendour of some of the shops particularly struck me . ` A regular Arabian Nights entertainment ! ' said I , as I looked into one on Cornhill , gorgeous with precious merchandise , and lighted up with lustres , the rays of which were reflected from a hundred mirrors . But , notwithstanding the excellence of the London pavement , I began about nine o'clock to feel myself thoroughly tired ; painfully and slowly did I drag my feet along . I also felt very much in want of some refreshment , and I remembered that since breakfast I had taken nothing . I was now in the Strand , and , glancing about , I perceived that I was close by an hotel , which bore over the door the somewhat remarkable name of Holy Lands . Without a moment 's hesitation I entered a well-lighted passage , and , turning to the left , I found myself in a well-lighted coffee-room , with a well-dressed and frizzled waiter before me .