four o'clock
`` It is evidently it has been made in Ireland , '' he sighed , with a desperate attempt at gaiety . `` It should have had a grosser stem , and helas ! it must not be easy to have it mended in these barbarous veelages . '' We stopped at four o'clock at a wayside hostelry , and I had quietly made up my mind to descend from the car , and take rooms for the night , whatever the place might be . Unfortunately , the same idea occurred to three or four of the soaked travellers ; and as men could leap down , while ladies must wait for the steps , the chivalrous sex , their manners obscured by the circular tour system , secured the rooms , and I was obliged to ascend again , wetter than ever , to my perch beside the driver . `` Can I get the box seat , do you think , if I pay extra for it ? '' I had asked one of the stablemen before breakfast .