eight o'clock
`` You think Mr. Lowington will not sustain me -- do you ? '' `` Certainly not . '' `` I could hardly expect it , since he has a much higher regard for that boy than for me , '' sighed Mr. Hamblin . `` It is eight o'clock , and time for the recitations to commence , '' said Mr. Stoute , consulting his watch . `` You must decide at once what you intend to do . '' `` What shall I do ? '' asked Mr. Hamblin , who had become fully conscious that he had involved himself in another `` unpleasantness , '' and that the powers that be , unmindful of his claims , would probably decide against him .