ten o'clock
Much as he talked of science , he was lacking in several essentials of the scientific mind ; he had neither patience to collect and observe facts , nor conscientiousness in reasoning upon them ; prejudice directed his every thought , and egoism pervaded all his conclusions . Excelling in speciousness , it was natural that he should think success as a politician within his easy reach ; possessed by a plausible theory of government , he readily conceived himself on the heights of statesmanship , ruling the nation for its behoof . And so , as he read the London and provincial papers this morning , they had all at once a new interest for him ; he probed questions , surveyed policies , and whilst smiling at the intellectual poverty of average man , gravely marked for himself a shining course amid the general confusion and ineptitude . At ten o'clock there shot a glint of promise across the clouded sky ; rain had ceased , the wind was less boisterous . Lashmar set forth briskly on foot , and walked to Shawe , where he arrived in good time for his appointment . The manager of the mill , a very intelligent Scotchman , conscientiously showed him everything that was to be seen , and Dyce affected great interest . Real interest he felt little or none ; the processes of manufacture belonged to a world to which he had never given the slightest thought , which in truth repelled him .