ten in the morning
Well , poor soul , she had never imagined that her son would be compelled to chafe his life out at a city desk . The very , air of London had become oppressive ; the hurrying crowd was unsympathetic to his new-found joy of living ; so , without any well-defined motive , he sought the ample solitude of the park . Be it noted that he usually went straight from point to point without regard to obstacles . Hence , in his devious wanderings of that remarkable day , he was departing from fixed habit , and , were he a student of astrology , he would assuredly have sought to ascertain what planets were in the ascendant at a quarter-past ten in the morning , and half-past seven in the evening . For he had scarcely reached the quiet gloom of the trees when a man , who had followed him since he quitted von Kerber 's house , overtook him and touched his arm . `` Beg pardon , '' said the stranger , `` but are you the gentleman who called on Baron von Kerber half an hour ago ? '' `` Yes . ''