six o'clock
`` That 's neither here or there , Polatkin , '' he said . `` The point is Elkan should go right uptown and _ geschwind _ pack his grip and be down at the Salisbury this afternoon yet , if Yetta would be ready _ oder _ not . We could n't afford to let the ground grow under our feet and that 's all there is _ to _ it . '' Thus , shortly after six o'clock that evening , Elkan and Yetta alighted from the 5:10 special from Flatbush Avenue and picked their way through a marital throng that kissed and embraced with as much ardour as though the reunion had concluded a parting of ten years instead of ten hours . At length the happy couples dragged themselves apart and crowded into the automobile ` bus of the New Salisbury , sweeping Elkan and Yetta before them , so that when the ` bus arrived at the hotel Elkan and Yetta were the last to descend . A burly yellow-faced porter seized the baggage with the contemptuous manner that Ham nowadays evinces toward Shem , and Elkan and Yetta followed him through the luxurious social hall to the desk . There the room clerk immediately shot out a three-carat diamond ring , and when Elkan 's eyes became accustomed to the glare he saw that beneath it was a fat white hand extended in cordial greeting .