a quarter past six
Business men in well-tailored , immaculate suits walked briskly past . Weak arched clerks with home pressed trousers slouched wearily along . Chattering women innumerable scurried by on the walk . His dollar watch showed a quarter past six in the light from the ticket office window and John counted his papers . Eleven on hand and five paltry coppers in his right trousers ' pocket . Caught with an overstock ! Not only had the prospective profits vanished , but a deficiency impended as well .