four o'clock
Accompanied by these refreshing cogitations , Guy reached his comfortable office , but oh `` how painfully plain an index to his troubled soul was his worried face . '' All day he stumbled over office stools , spilt ink , made countless mistakes in his calculations , and , as a consequence , smashed pens and used unsparingly all those little monosyllables that seem to grow spontaneously on the tongue 's end of an enraged man . His difficulties were beginning in earnest ; he had consented to join a party of merry-makers to drive to Aylmer that night , and he could see no possible outlet through which he might escape . He had thought of seeing some of the `` fellows '' at four o'clock , and of telling them in some off-hand way of his change of determination ; but even this little gratification was denied him , for emerging from his office door , the first one he came across was Mr. Rayne . There was that hopeless resignation , which dire necessity forces , in the very tone of Guy 's voice as he addressed his uncle , but now , whether he would or not he must yield . Every circumstance showed him plainly how fettered he really was , although his spirit yearned to belong in gain as well as m name , to that band of `` Acephah '' that walked the streets of Ottawa , free men under their unpaid-for ulsters and seal caps . No wonder the conversation between Guy and his uncle consisted of a series of laconic monosyllables .