four o'clock before
Then softening , `` Well , then , half a glass . There , I 've been generous , have n't I ? '' etc. , etc. , and so the day passed . On this particular day it was four o'clock before he had dismissed the last of his patients . Then he turned to his nurse with an impatient tone , as he searched hurriedly among the papers on his desk : `` Find out what day I set for young Mrs. Van Ripley 's operation . '' `` Tuesday , sir , '' answered the nurse . `` Then make it Thursday , and tell James to pack up my big valise and see that my golf things are in it and aboard the 9.18 in the morning . ''