five in the morning
I got nine dollars a week and earned every cent of it inhaling the atmosphere . My board cost me six and the other three afforded me a chance to demonstrate myself a captain of finance -- paying laundry bills and clothing myself , besides buying lunches and such-like small matters . I did the whole thing , you know -- one schooner of beer a day and made my own cigarettes : never could make up my mind which was the worst . The hours were easy , too : did n't have to get to work until five in the morning ... . I lasted five weeks at that job , before I was taken sick : shows what a great constitution I 've got . '' He laughed uncertainly and paused , thoughtful , his eyes vacant , fixed upon the retrospect that was a grim prospect of the imminent future . `` And then -- ? ''