three o'clock in the afternoon
`` By the way , I 'll not be back until a week from to-morrow . Suppose we have a little housewarming , just we four -- strangers , that night ? '' and before the other could answer , before the complex suggestion in its entirety took effect , he was gone . It was three o'clock in the afternoon of a sultry July Sunday when a big red roadster drew up all but noiselessly and , with an instinct common to all motorists , a heritage from an equine age past , stopped at the nose of the hitching-post in front of the Gleason cottage . In it the single occupant throttled down the engine until it barely throbbed . Alighting , goggles on forehead , he passed up the walk toward the house . Not until he was fairly at the steps did he apparently notice his surroundings .