four o'clock in the afternoon
`` It 's a pity all the people are n't idiots , '' said Marcus Wilkeson to Tiffles . `` Your panorama would be patronized and appreciated then . '' It was Marcus 's first approach to a joke that day . By four o'clock in the afternoon the Panorama of Africa was all up , the rollers and the curtain in good working order , and everything ready for the eventful night . Stoop had taken a lesson at the wheel , and turned it beautifully . Tiffles had arranged a system of signals with him . One cough was `` Stop ; '' two coughs were `` Go on ; '' one stamp was `` Slower ; '' two , stamps were `` Faster . ''