about eleven o'clock
Such was Katie Woodward , whom Charley was not to marry . As he turned down Norfolk Street , he thought of all this , as the gambler , sitting with his razor before him with which he intends to cut his throat , may be supposed to think of the stakes which he has failed to win , and the fortune he has failed to make . Norah Geraghty was Charley 's razor , and he plunged boldly into the ` Cat and Whistle , ' determined to draw it at once across his weasand , and sever himself for ever from all that is valuable in the world . It was now about eleven o'clock , at which hour the ` Cat and Whistle ' generally does its most stirring trade . This Charley knew ; but he also knew that the little back parlour , even if there should be an inmate in it at the time of his going in , would soon be made private for his purposes . When he went in , Mrs. Davis was standing behind the counter , dressed in a cap of wonderful grandeur , and a red tabinet gown , which rustled among the pots and jars , sticking out from her to a tremendous width , inflated by its own magnificence and a substratum of crinoline . Charley had never before seen her arrayed in such royal robes .