three o'clock
The news , made public in the newspapers , had raised a storm of protest . The people in the vicinity claimed that the railroad secured the land on the express condition of a park being laid out , and in order to make a legal test they had secured an injunction , which had been sustained by Judge Rossmore of the United States Circuit Court . These details were hastily told and re-told by one clerk to another as the babel of voices in the inner room grew louder , and more directors kept arriving from the ever-busy elevators . The meeting was called for three o'clock . Another five minutes and the chairman would rap for order . A tall , strongly built man with white moustache and kindly smile emerged from the directors room and , addressing one of the clerks , asked : `` Has Mr. Ryder arrived yet ? '' The alacrity with which the employé hastened forward to reply would indicate that his interlocutor was a person of more than ordinary importance .