seven o’clock
` Thank ' ee , sir , ' rejoined Sam . ` I 'll mention it , sir . ' And with some expressions of mutual good-will and interest , master and man separated . It was just seven o'clock when Samuel Weller , alighting from the box of a stage-coach which passed through Dorking , stood within a few hundred yards of the Marquis of Granby . It was a cold , dull evening ; the little street looked dreary and dismal ; and the mahogany countenance of the noble and gallant marquis seemed to wear a more sad and melancholy expression than it was wont to do , as it swung to and fro , creaking mournfully in the wind . The blinds were pulled down , and the shutters partly closed ; of the knot of loungers that usually collected about the door , not one was to be seen ; the place was silent and desolate . Seeing nobody of whom he could ask any preliminary questions , Sam walked softly in , and glancing round , he quickly recognised his parent in the distance .