about nine
o'clock
He had forgotten that he no longer had quarters in town , and must secure a room . He was still carrying his dress-suit case , but he could n't resist the temptation of first looking in on the old crowd and shaking hands . He had n't kept in touch with them except that he still read religiously every line of the old sheet , but he had recognized the work of this man and that , and knew from what he had already seen that nothing inside any more than outside could be changed . It was about nine o'clock , so he would find Hartson , the city editor , going over the rival morning papers , his keen eyes alert to discover what the night staff had missed . As he hurried up the narrow stairs his heart was as much in his mouth as it had been the first day he was taken on the staff . Several new office boys eyed him suspiciously , but he walked with such an air of familiarity that they allowed him to pass unquestioned . At the entrance to the sacred precinct of the city editor 's room he paused with all his old-time hesitancy .