nine o’clock
His basket was standing in the hall . `` I shall not return this evening , '' he said , `` so I will pay my bill . '' Then , having bought a suit of ready-made sailor 's clothes , with hat complete , he put them into his basket , hired a vehicle , and drove to Fairham . In the morning at nine o'clock he walked along the main road towards Cosham till he reached the turning to Porchester , went down it a couple of hundred yards , and sat on a grassy bank till he saw the pedlar approaching . `` It is a foggy morning , '' the huckster said when he came up . `` So much the better . I hope it will last over to-morrow , and then they wo n't be able to signal the news of the prisoner 's escape .