noon
`` Well , do n't play it ... that 's the best tip in the world . '' The operator walked off chuckling . * * * * * Robert continued his walk along Montgomery street to Market , where he turned westward . It was Saturday and his father 's office , where he was now studying law , had been closed since noon . It had become a custom -- almost an unwritten law -- to promenade San Francisco 's lordly thoroughfare on the last afternoon of the week , especially the northern side . For Market street was now a social barrier . South of it were smaller , meaner shops , saloons , beer-swilling `` cafe chantants , '' workmen 's eating houses and the like , with , of course , the notable exceptions of the Grand and Palace Hotels .