half past seven
The clamour subsided . `` When Ah columns you lef ' , head fo ' de big buildin ' ! '' The big building was the entrance to the pier against which , eating charter money faster than the banks could loan it and hungry for her sixteen thousand tons of mixed freight , lay the _ Empire _ . At half past seven the Wildcat reported to the pier foreman at the office in the end of the long building . `` Cap'n , suh , heah 's more 'n two hund ` ed twenty-dollah niggers . How much does dat come to , suh ? '' The pier foreman ran his eye over the crowd without answering .