eight o'clock
Stumm would n't be likely to have got on my tracks yet , I calculated , but there was always the chance that he had warned all the villages round by telephone and that they might be on the look-out for me . But that risk had to be taken , for I must have food . It was the day before Christmas , I remembered , and people would be holidaying . The village was quite a big place , but at this hour -- just after eight o'clock -- there was nobody in the street except a wandering dog . I chose the most unassuming shop I could find , where a little boy was taking down the shutters -- one of those general stores where they sell everything . The boy fetched a very old woman , who hobbled in from the back , fitting on her spectacles . ` Gruss Gott , ' she said in a friendly voice , and I took off my cap .