nine o'clock
As he was old and portly , and I young and spare , this disguise had cost me no little thought and labour . But assisted as I was by the darkness , I had but little fear of betraying myself to any chance spy who might be upon the watch , especially as Mr. L -- had a peculiar walk , which , in my short stay with him , I had learned to imitate perfectly . In the lapel of my overcoat I had tied a tag of blue ribbon , and , though for all I knew this was a signal devoting me to a secret and mysterious death , I walked along in a buoyant condition of mind , attributable , no doubt , to the excitement of the venture and to my desire to test my powers , even at the risk of my life . It was nine o'clock when I reached South Street . It was no new region to me , nor was I ignorant of the specified drinking den on the dock to which I had been directed . I remembered it as a bright spot in a mass of ship-prows and bow-rigging , and was possessed , besides , of a vague consciousness that there was something odd in connection with it which had aroused my curiosity sufficiently in the past for me to have once formed the resolution of seeing it again under circumstances which would allow me to give it some attention . But I never thought that the circumstances would involve my own life , impossible as it is for a detective to reckon upon the future or to foresee the events into which he will be hurried by the next crime which may be reported at police headquarters .