eleven o'clock
and with that he was off . His make-up was perfect , and as he hobbled his way along Broadway through the maze of cars , trucks , and hansoms , there was not in any part of him a hint or a suggestion that brought to mind my alert partner . Of course my excitement was intense . I could hardly wait for eleven o'clock to come , and at 9.30 I found myself in front of the Café Panhard a full hour and a half ahead of time , and never were there more minutes in that period of waiting than there seemed to be then as I paced Broadway until the appointed hour . It seemed ages before the clock down in front of the Whirald Building pointed to 10.55 , but at last the moment arrived , and I entered the café , taking one of the little tables in the farther corner , where the light was not unduly strong and where the turmoil of the Hungarian band was reduced by distance from moltofortissimo to a moderate approach to a pianissimo , which would admit of conversation . Again I had to wait , but not for so long a time . It was twenty minutes past eleven when a fine-looking man of military bearing , wearing a full red beard , entered , and after looking the café over , sauntered up to where I sat .