three o'clock
in the afternoon
He , as a matter of course , out of those to which he had possessed the right of entrance , chose the worst . It was called the Beargarden , and had been lately opened with the express view of combining parsimony with profligacy . Clubs were ruined , so said certain young parsimonious profligates , by providing comforts for old fogies who paid little or nothing but their subscriptions , and took out by their mere presence three times as much as they gave . This club was not to be opened till three o'clock in the afternoon , before which hour the promoters of the Beargarden thought it improbable that they and their fellows would want a club . There were to be no morning papers taken , no library , no morning-room . Dining-rooms , billiard-rooms , and card-rooms would suffice for the Beargarden . Everything was to be provided by a purveyor , so that the club should be cheated only by one man .