nine o'clock
Having dressed himself as quickly as he could , he took up the jewel-case , but , finding it too large to stow away , he opened it , and , taking out the necklace , crammed it into his pocket . Thus armed he slipped down the stairs , past the open common room where the light shone through the cracks in the shutters on a dismal array of sticky beer-mugs and spirit glasses , down the sanded passage into the village street . It was full daylight now , and the sun never looked upon a lovelier morning . The air was warm , but there was that sharp freshness in it which is needful to make summer weather perfect , and which we always miss by breakfasting at nine o'clock . The sky was blue , just flecked with little clouds ; the dewdrops sparkled upon every leaf and blade of grass ; touches of mist clung about the hollows , and the sweet breath of the awakened earth was full of the perfect scent of an English June , which is in its way even more delicious than the spicy odours of the tropics . It was a morning to make sick men well , and men happy , and atheists believers in a creative hand . How much more than did it fire Arthur 's pulses , already bounding with youth and health , with an untold joy .