ten o'clock
`` At least , '' as he said to himself , and suggested to others , `` that is the _ ostensible _ purpose of her frequently prolonged visits . '' He often walked by the lighted windows of the sanctum and occasionally slipped into the dark hall-way , so the watchman later said . The same irrepressible propensity to meddle in the affairs of everybody in the household where he was employed , in the councils of the various labor unions , in the meetings of political associations , in the official duties or off-hand chats of the men at military head-quarters , in the management of the Lambert Library , seemed to follow him in his casual intercourse with this obscure little household . One night when towards ten o'clock Miss Wallen came blithely down the corridor stairs , she was surprised to find the tutor awaiting her . `` As I know Mr. Forrest to be otherwise engaged to-night , Miss Wallen , I have ventured to offer my services as escort , '' said he , and though she shrank from and could not bear him , there was no reason at that time for denying him ; but when he presently began talking of Forrest in his suggestive , insinuating way , and excusing his references to the lieutenant on the ground of his extreme regard for her widowed mother , her impoverished but amiable relatives , and her own refined , intellectual , and accomplished self , she shrank still more and strove to silence him , -- a difficult matter . She had , however , a trait that proved simply exasperating to a man of Elmendorf 's calibre , -- a faculty of listening in absolute silence where she did not desire to confirm or approve , -- and when he had spent much breath and nearly half an hour in descanting upon his impressions of the demoralizing tendencies of military associations in general and of idle officers in particular , it rasped him to find that she did not seem to consider his views worthy the faintest comment ; nor would she nor did she invite him in . When her mother reproved her for this , Miss Wallen smiled , and said , `` Next time I will , and then you might ask him for the three weeks ' lodging he has n't paid , '' and Mart said she ought to be ashamed of speaking so of a man who had done everything for her .