four o'clock
As to the general character of the house , upon which several members of the jury asked questions , they testified that it was a species of club house , where a few gentlemen of excellent reputation occasionally met for the purposes of innocent social intercourse . Games of chance were sometimes played at Brown 's , to while away an hour ; and betting was now and then done , in a strictly honorable and legitimate way . Several of the jurymen would have improved the occasion , to learn all about the internal management of Brown 's ; but the coroner decided that such questions were entirely `` relevant '' -LRB- meaning irrelevant -RRB- , and suggested that , as there were no more witnesses , the case might as well go to the jury . The coroner had just consulted his watch , and found that it was four o'clock . He was aware , from the turn things had taken , that he had lost the verdict which he hoped to obtain ; but that was no reason why he should lose his dinner . The coroner was not a man of energy ; and , being foiled in his efforts to convict Marcus Wilkeson , he had no disposition to pursue the matter further . Besides , he had already achieved a large measure of profitable notoriety from the case ; for he had been ridiculed and abused in most of the city papers ; and _ that _ insured him , beyond all doubt , the nomination for and election to the State Senate , for which he was an aspirant at the next fall campaign .