five o’clock
This grocer , thanks to a certain cheap wine , manufactured for him by a chemist at Bercy , had achieved a certain notoriety in that quarter . He was very stout and pompous , a widower , and a sergeant in the National Guard . His name was Melusin . In all poor districts five o'clock is a busy hour for the shopkeepers , for the workmen are returning from their labors , and their wives are busy in their preparations for their evening meal . M. Melusin was so busily engaged , giving orders and seeing that they were executed , that he did not even notice the entrance of Daddy Tantaine ; but had he done so , he would not have put himself out for so poorly dressed a customer . But the old man had left behind him in the Hotel de Perou every sign of humility and servility , and , making his way to the least crowded portion of the shop , he called out in imperative accents , `` M. Melusin ! '' Very much surprised , the grocer ceased his avocation and hastened to obey the summons .