two o'clock
He signed the new contract , inserting `` The Smoke of Joy '' in the blank space , and mailed it back to the publishers along with the twenty storiettes he had written in the days before he discovered the formula for the newspaper storiette . And promptly as the United States mail could deliver and return , came Singletree , Darnley & Co. 's check for five thousand dollars . `` I want you to come down town with me , Maria , this afternoon about two o'clock , '' Martin said , the morning the check arrived . `` Or , better , meet me at Fourteenth and Broadway at two o'clock . I 'll be looking out for you . '' At the appointed time she was there ; but _ shoes _ was the only clew to the mystery her mind had been capable of evolving , and she suffered a distinct shock of disappointment when Martin walked her right by a shoe - store and dived into a real estate office . What happened thereupon resided forever after in her memory as a dream .