two o'clock
When his small savings had paid off Amos Burr 's little debt , and they started , unhandicapped , upon their shaky progress , it seemed to her that she was justified in commending , for the second time , the visible methods of Providence -- a commendation which faltered only before a threatening twinge of neuralgia . Early in October the judge , whose practice was drawn largely from other sections of the State , left home for an absence of several weeks . Upon his return he sent for Nicholas in the early afternoon , an unusual happening . The young man , dropping in at two o'clock , found him at work in his library before the early dinner , a generous mint julep upon a silver tray on his desk . Cæsar was an acknowledged artist in the mixing of the beverage , and Mrs. Burwell had once exclaimed that `` the judge was prouder of Cæsar 's fame at the bar than of his own . '' `` It is an art that is becoming extinct , madam , '' the judge had replied sadly . `` I should wager there are more men in the State to-day who can make a speech than can mix a julep .