eight o'clock
The Chapters headed `` Wet Bobs '' and `` Carrying On '' appeared originally in Blackwood 's Magazine and are included in the book by kind permission of the Editor . THE LONG TRICK Towards eight o'clock the fog that had hung threateningly over the City all the afternoon descended like a pall . It was a mild evening in February , and inside the huge echoing vault of King 's Cross station the shaded arc lamps threw little pools of light along the departure platform where the Highland Express stood . The blinds of the carriage windows were already drawn , but here and there a circle of subdued light strayed out and was engulfed almost at once by the murky darkness . Sounds out of the unseen reached the ear muffled and confused : a motor horn hooted near the entrance , and quite close at hand a horse 's hoofs clattered and rang on the cobbled paving-stones .