seven o'clock
`` The thing is -- is it ? '' As Mrs Trimble was unable to answer this question , she retired from the discussion , and hoped devoutly nothing was going to happen which would necessitate her doing more work about the school than she at present did . The unconscious Jeffreys meanwhile was upstairs , washing himself before starting for his weekly `` evening out . '' He had more than usual before him on this particular evening , as , besides calling at the post-office -- an errand he never missed -- he had discovered another old bookshop across the river which kept open till seven o'clock . And after that he had promised Freddy and Teddy , with whom from the first he had kept up a warm friendship , to call up at their house and help them mend their tricycle . With this full programme before him , he lost no time in starting on his travels ; little dreaming that the quick pace at which he strode along gave unwonted exercise to Mr Jonah Trimble , who , animated by an amiable curiosity , dogged his footsteps at a respectful distance . It was about five o'clock when Jeffreys reached the post-office .