half
past five
Nayland Smith , ignoring my entreaties , composed himself for slumber in the white cane chair in my study . About noon he retired to the bathroom , and returning , made a pretense of breakfast ; then resumed his seat in the cane armchair . Carter reported in the afternoon , but his report was merely formal . Returning from my round of professional visits at half past five , I found Nayland Smith in the same position ; and so the day waned into evening , and dusk fell uneventfully . In the corner of the big room by the empty fireplace , Nayland Smith lay , with his long , lean frame extended in the white cane chair . A tumbler , from which two straws protruded , stood by his right elbow , and a perfect continent of tobacco smoke lay between us , wafted toward the door by the draught from an open window . He had littered the hearth with matches and tobacco ash , being the most untidy smoker I have ever met ; and save for his frequent rapping-out of his pipe bowl and perpetual striking of matches , he had shown no sign of activity for the past hour .