nine o'clock
Though the naked truth must face him in all its brutishness , he knew , from the feeling within him , that by an act of thought , which was not an act , he had drawn the sting of the poisoned arrow from his wound . Not only had the bitterness passed from his shame , but there had come , with the relinquishment of the idea of personal wrong , a swift rush of exaltation , like a strong wind , through his soul . Almost unconsciously he had yielded his will into the hands of God , and immediately , as in the prophecy `` all these things had been added '' unto the rest . Turning at once he walked rapidly in the direction of his house , while a clock in a tower across the way pointed to the stroke of nine o'clock . The bodily exertion had begun to wear upon him during the last few minutes . His feet ached and there was a bruised feeling in all his muscles . When he came at last to his own door the sensation of fatigue had blotted out the acuteness of his perceptions .