three
o'clock
Lunch was served at one o'clock on a papier-mache tray spread with a crumpled tray cloth . It was a tepid , tasteless , unappetising meal , for the working housekeeper knew neither how to work nor to cook , and Pat invariably sent it away almost untasted ; yet every day he looked forward afresh to the advent of one o'clock and the appearance of the tray . It was something to happen , something to do , a change from the reading , of which he was already getting tired . But , after lunch , after he had wakened from the short siesta ; and realised that it was not yet three o'clock , and that six , seven hours still remained to be lived through before he could reasonably hope to settle for the night -- that was a dreary time indeed , and Pat , whose interests lay all outdoors , knew no means of lightening it . For the first week of his confinement Pat had had a string of visitors . The members of his cricket team had appeared to express sympathy and encouragement ; some of the men against whom he had been playing had also put in an appearance ; `` fellows '' had come up from `` the office , '' but in the busy life of London a man who goes _ on _ being ill is apt to find himself left alone before many weeks have passed . There was only one man who never failed to put in an appearance at some hour of the day , and on that man 's coming Pat O'Shaughnessy this afternoon concentrated every power in his possession .