nine o'clock
It was a very weak retort , and I frankly admit that I am ashamed of it , but it was the best I had at hand at the moment . My stock of repartee , like most men 's vitality , is at its lowest ebb at four o'clock in the morning . For three or four hours I wandered aimlessly about the city , and then returned to my room , and found it deserted ; but in the course of my peregrinations I had acquired a most consuming appetite . Usually I eat very little breakfast , but this morning nothing short of a sixteen-course dinner could satisfy my ravening ; so instead of eating my modest boiled egg , I sought the Savoy , and at nine o'clock entered the breakfast-room of that highly favored caravansary . Imagine my delight , upon entering , to see , sitting near one of the windows , my newly made acquaintances of the steamer , the Travises of Boston , Miss Travis looking more beautiful than ever and quite as haughty , by whom I was invited to join them . I accepted with alacrity , and was just about to partake of a particularly nice melon when who should walk in but that vulgar little spectre , hat jauntily placed on one side of his head , check-patterned trousers loud enough to wake the dead , and a green plaid vest about his middle that would be an indictable offence even on an American golf links . `` Thank Heaven they ca n't see the brute ! ''