eleven in the morning
Beside this table , he kept a book , in perfect order , on which he entered the sums lent him , down to the smallest fraction ; for he would never burden himself beyond a certain amount which was within the fortune of a country relative , whose heir-apparent he was . As soon as he owed one person twenty francs , he closed the account and paid him off , even if obliged to borrow for the purpose of those to whom he owed less . In this way he always kept up a certain credit which he called his floating debt , and as people knew that he was accustomed to repay as soon as his means permitted him , those who could accommodate him were very ready to do so . But on the present occasion , from eleven in the morning , when he had started to try and collect the seventy-five francs requisite , up to six in the afternoon , he had only raised three francs , contributed by three letters -LRB- M. , V. , and R. -RRB- of his famous list . All the rest of the alphabet , having , like himself , their quarter to pay , had adjourned his claim indefinitely . The clock of his stomach sounded the dinner-hour . He was then at the Maine barrier , where letter U lived .