five minutes after twelve
He felt very lonely , and this was , daily , his hardest hour . For a long time he and Jim had lunched together habitually . Roscoe preferred a club luncheon , but Jim and his father almost always went to a small restaurant near the Sheridan Building , where they spent twenty minutes in the consumption of food , and twenty in talk , with cigars . Jim came for his father every day , at five minutes after twelve , and Sheridan was again in his office at five minutes before one . But now that Jim no longer came , Sheridan remained alone in his office ; he had not gone out to lunch since Jim 's death , nor did he have anything sent to him -- he fasted until evening . It was the time he missed Jim personally the most -- the voice and eyes and handshake , all brisk and alert , all business-like . But these things were not the keenest in Sheridan 's grief ; his sense of loss went far deeper .