five o'clock
It 's better to do that ; it 's better -- '' At that moment the clashing of the supper gong fell on the old man 's naked nerves . He straightened up by some reflex mechanism , turned away from what he thought was his last interview with his secretary , and proceeded down the piazza into the great empty dining-room . With overwrought nerves Peter Siner entered his room . At five o'clock that afternoon he had seen Cissie Dildine go up the street to the Arkwright home to cook one of those occasional suppers . He had been watching for her return , and in the midst of it the Captain 's extraordinary outburst had stirred him up . Once in his room , the negro placed the broken Hepplewhite in such a position that he could rake the street with a glance . Then he tried to compose himself and await the coming of his supper and the passage of Cissie .