four o'clock
`` Tut , tut ! it was decided the moment you were born . '' `` I think , '' Mr. Finch interposed , `` it is time I gave Captain Runacles some necessary information about the boy 's inheritance . '' It was close upon four o'clock when the little blue door which , until that morning , had remained shut for over four years was opened a second time and Captain Runacles stepped through into Captain Barker 's domain . His wig was carefully brushed and he carried a gold-headed cane . Whatever emotion he may have felt was concealed by the upright carriage and solemn pace proper to a visit of state . Captain Barker , who stood at the lower end of the garden and stooped over his beloved tulips , started at the sound of footsteps , looked round , and hastily plucking his wig from the handle of a spade that stood upright in the mould by his elbow , arranged it upon his bald scalp and awaited the other 's advance .