two in the
evening
His appearance caused a slight buzz of recognition among the audience , and if Yeovil had cared to make enquiry of his neighbours he might have learned that this decorated and obviously important personage was the redoubtable von Kwarl , artificer and shaper of much of the statecraft for which other men got the public credit . The orchestra played a selection from the `` Gondola Girl , '' which was the leading musical-comedy of the moment . Most of the audience , those in the more expensive seats at any rate , heard the same airs two or three times daily , at restaurant lunches , teas , dinners and suppers , and occasionally in the Park ; they were justified therefore in treating the music as a background to slightly louder conversation than they had hitherto indulged in . The music came to an end , episode number two in the evening 's entertainment was signalled , the curtain of Alexandrine blue rolled heavily upward , and a troupe of performing wolves was presented to the public . Yeovil had encountered wolves in North Africa deserts and in Siberian forest and wold , he had seen them at twilight stealing like dark shadows across the snow , and heard their long whimpering howl in the darkness amid the pines ; he could well understand how a magic lore had grown up round them through the ages among the peoples of four continents , how their name had passed into a hundred strange sayings and inspired a hundred traditions . And now he saw them ride round the stage on tricycles , with grotesque ruffles round their necks and clown caps on their heads , their eyes blinking miserably in the blaze of the footlights . In response to the applause of the house a stout , atrociously smiling man in evening dress came forward and bowed ; he had had nothing to do either with the capture or the training of the animals , having bought them ready for use from a continental emporium where wild beasts were prepared for the music-hall market , but he continued bowing and smiling till the curtain fell .