two o'clock in the afternoon
Jet obeyed , writing as the stranger dictated , and when he presented himself at the station once more the manager had no reason to believe he had been anywhere except to the Exchange . Jet was not just certain , when he seated himself on the bench to wait for another summons , whether he had done right in obeying the tall man so implicitly , but yet he could not understand how it would make any difference to the manager , since he brought back the amount of money which was the lawful charge for such service . `` I 'll ask one of the other fellows , '' he said to himself , and then the rush of business was so great that he almost forgot the incident of the morning . Until two o'clock in the afternoon he was busily engaged , and at that hour returned after having been to the post-office to mail a large lot of circulars sent by a particularly testy and disagreeable old gentleman . `` You need n't sit down , '' the manager said sharply , as the boy laid the service slip on the desk . `` Go with this man and see to it that you tell the whole truth . '' Jet looked in surprise at a gentlemanly appearing person who was pointed out to him , standing near the door , and asked hesitatingly : `` What do you mean , sir ? ''