six o'clock
It was all very well to rebuke Desdemona by ignoring her existence ; but could he be quite sure that she noticed his absence or cared about it ? And in any case , whether or not it affected her , it certainly bored him very much . He missed greatly the companionship of his mate , and not a bit the less because she had been so rude to him the day before . The upshot of it was that , after disposing of a good portion of the dinner placed in his big dish at six o'clock that evening -LRB- in the little courtyard in which he had once held a tramp bailed up all night -RRB- , he picked up the large , succulent , and still decently covered knuckle-bone designed for his dessert , and , carrying this in his mouth , set out for the cave on the Downs . He probably had some small twinges of misgiving , but endeavored to dismiss these by assuring himself that poor Desdemona was no doubt very sorry for her ill-temper of the previous day ; that she doubtless was feeling his protracted absence keenly , and that it would be only courteous and fair now to let bygones be bygones , and present her with a really choice knuckle-bone by way of proving his forgiveness . This was more or less the way in which the wolfhound 's mind worked as he ambled over the Downs that evening with his big knuckle-bone . -LRB- The cook at Nuthill was one of Finn 's most devoted admirers .