eleven o'clock
Outside in the street he heard at long intervals the rattling of wheels as the early milk wagons came and went ; a dog began to bark , three gruff notes repeated monotonously at exact intervals ; all at once there was a long muffled roll and an abrupt clacking noise ; it ceased , then broke out again sharply , paused once more , then recommenced , settling to a prolonged minor hum ; the cable was starting up ; it was almost morning , the window of his room began to show a brighter blur in the darkness , while very far off he could hear the steady puffing of a locomotive . As the first cable-car trundled by the house he dropped off to sleep for the last time , being waked again toward nine o'clock by the sound of some one shovelling coal outside under his window , the shovel clinking and rasping upon the stone sidewalk . He felt a little refreshed , but as he entered the dining-room for his late breakfast the smell of food repulsed him ; his appetite was gone ; it was impossible for him to eat . Toward eleven o'clock that same morning he was pottering idly about his sitting-room , winding his clock and shaking down the ashes in the tiled flamboyant stove ; his mind was still busy going over for the hundredth time all the possibilities of Hiram Wade 's suit , and he was just wondering whether something in the way of a compromise might not be arranged , when with the suddenness of a blow between the eyes the numbness in his head returned , together with the same unreasoning fear , the same depression of spirits , the same fearful sinking of the heart . What ! it was coming back again , this strange attack , coming back even when his attention was not concentrated , even when there was no unusual exertion of his brain ! Then the torment began .