two o'clock
Edwardes smiled grimly . `` I 'm trying like all hell , '' he said . `` I 've not laid down yet . '' * * * * * It was two o'clock and the Stock-Exchange was a shambles . Every security in the Street was down to panic figures and plunging plummet-like to further depths . At shortening intervals over the hoarse shrieks of the floor 's tumult boomed the brazen hammer blows of the huge gong , which should sound only twice each day . At every recurring announcement of failure a wall-shaking howl went up and echoed among the sixty-two inverted golden blossoms of the ceiling .