six in the morning
Answer me , Jane Vail ! '' But instead , with flashing eyes and scorching cheeks she took leave of him , requesting him curtly not to follow , and walked alone to the Drive and hailed a bus , and sat staring darkly ahead of her as it jolted and swayed down the long blocks to Washington Square . When Michael Daragh came down to breakfast next day he found the dining room in a state of excited conjecture . Miss Vail , dressed for a journey , had roused Mrs. Hills at six in the morning to say that she was going out of town for several weeks , and had immediately driven off in a taxi with her handbag and suitcase , her steamer trunk and her typewriter . Nevertheless , when Emma Ellis came in to luncheon , a little early , the third day following , she espied at Michael Daragh 's place a letter with a Boston postmark , addressed in a firm , small hand she knew . She was the only person in the room and she had time to examine it thoroughly , even as to thickness , before Mrs. Hills came in . It happened that there were mail deliveries just before the three meal times and it was the boarding-house keeper 's guileless custom to sort and distribute letters at the table , thus saving a wearisome climb and much pedestrianism through long halls .