Seven o'clock
He told himself once more that it was not possible for him to stay in bed and that the most sensible thing to do would be to get free of it in whatever way he could at whatever sacrifice . At the same time , though , he did not forget to remind himself that calm consideration was much better than rushing to desperate conclusions . At times like this he would direct his eyes to the window and look out as clearly as he could , but unfortunately , even the other side of the narrow street was enveloped in morning fog and the view had little confidence or cheer to offer him . `` Seven o'clock , already '' , he said to himself when the clock struck again , `` seven o'clock , and there 's still a fog like this . '' And he lay there quietly a while longer , breathing lightly as if he perhaps expected the total stillness to bring things back to their real and natural state . But then he said to himself : `` Before it strikes quarter past seven I 'll definitely have to have got properly out of bed . And by then somebody will have come round from work to ask what 's happened to me as well , as they open up at work before seven o'clock . ''