four o’clock
For such purposes the Nabob kept in one of his rooms a mahogany chest of drawers , a horrible little piece of furniture representing the savings of a house porter , the first that Jansoulet had bought when he had been able to give up living in furnished apartments ; which he had preserved since , like a gambler 's fetish ; and the three drawers of which contained always two hundred thousand francs in cash . It was to this constant supply that he had recourse on the days of his large receptions , displaying a certain ostentation in the way in which he would handle the gold and silver , by great handfuls , thrusting it to the bottom of his pockets to draw it out thence with the gesture of a cattle dealer ; a certain vulgar way of raising the skirts of his frock-coat and of sending his hand `` to the bottom and into the pile . '' To-day there must be a terrible void in the drawers of the little chest . After so many mysterious whispered confabulations , demands more or less clearly formulated , chance entries and triumphant departures , the last client having been dismissed , the chest of drawers closed and locked , the flat in the Place Vendome began to empty in the uncertain light of the afternoon towards four o'clock , that close of the November days so exceedingly prolonged afterward by artificial light . The servants were clearing away the coffee and the raki , and bearing off the open and half-emptied cigar-boxes . The Nabob , thinking himself alone , gave a sigh of relief . `` Ouf !