eight o'clock
He has no idea . Then at least , Pym -- excellent Pym -- sit down and dip , and let us see what will happen . He declined to do even that . While all the world waited , this was Pym 's ultimatum : `` I shall begin the damned thing at eight o'clock . '' Outside , the fog kept changing at intervals from black to white , as lazily from white to black -LRB- the monster blinking -RRB- ; there was not a sound from the street save of pedestrians tapping with their sticks on the pavement as they moved forward warily , afraid of an embrace with the unknown ; it might have been a city of blind beggars , one of them a boy . At eight o'clock Pym rose with a groan and sat down in his stocking-soles to write his delicious tale . He was now alone .