10 A.M.
Between the wooden pillars of the stoep dangled curtains yet other , of chopped , dyed , and threaded bamboo , while whitewashed drain-pipes , packed with earth and set on end , overflowed with Indian cress , flowering now in extravagant , gorgeous hues of red and brown , sulphur and orange . The Dop Doctor , left to maintain the inviolate sanctity of this English Colonial home , hiccoughed as he stumbled up the stately flight of three cement steps that led between white-painted railings , enclosing on the left hand a narrow strip of garden with some dusty mimosa shrubs growing in it , to the green door that bore the brass plate , and had the red lamp fitted in the hall-light above it . The plate bore this comprehensive inscription : G. DE BOURSY-WILLIAMS , M.D. , F.R.C.S. Lond . CONSULTING-ROOM HOURS : 10 A.M. TO 12 A.M. ; 6 P.M. TO 8 P.M. MODERN DENTISTRY IN ALL ITS BRANCHES . And , scanning the inscription for perhaps the thousandth time , the grim , tender mouth under the ragged black moustache took a satirical twist at the corners , for nobody knew better than Owen Saxham , called of men in Gueldersdorp the `` Dop Doctor , '' what a brazen lie it proclaimed . He heard the town-clock on the stad square strike five as he pulled out the latchkey from his pocket and let himself in , shouting : `` Koets ! '' A glazed door at the end of the passage , advertised in letters of black paint upon the ground-glass as `` Dispensary , '' opened , and a long , thin Dutchman , dressed in respectable black , looked out .