eleven
o'clock precisely
Then he slapped his leg with a sounding and triumphant slap . `` I know the very thing as would suit you , Major Vernon , '' he said -- the Major had assumed the name of Vernon , as agreed upon between himself and Henry Dunbar -- `` the very thing , '' repeated the landlord ; `` you might say it had been made to order like . There 's a sale comes off next Thursday . Mr. Grogson , the Shorncliffe auctioneer , will sell , at eleven o'clock precisely , the furniture and lease of the snuggest little box in these parts -- Woodbine Cottage it 's called -- a sweet pretty little place , as was the property of old Admiral Manders . The admiral died in the house , and having been a bachelor , and his money having gone to distant relatives , the lease and furniture of the cottage will be sold . But I should think , '' added the landlord , gravely , looking rather doubtfully at his guest as he spoke , `` I should think the lease and furniture , pictures and plate , will fetch a matter of eight hundred to a thousand pound ; and perhaps you might n't care to go to that ? '' The landlord could not refrain from glancing furtively at the white and shining aspect of the cloth that covered the sharp knees of his customer , which were exactly under his eyes as the two men sat opposite to each other beside the snug little round table .