three
o'clock
Poor fellow ! -- we under-clerks all thought it was a fine thing to sit at a desk by oneself , and have 50 _ l _ . per month , as Roundhand had ; but I 've a notion that Hoskins and I , blowing duets on the flute together in our second floor in Salisbury Square , were a great deal more at ease than our head -- and more _ in harmony _ , too ; though we made sad work of the music , certainly . One day Gus Hoskins and I asked leave from Roundhand to be off at three o'clock , as we had _ particular business _ at the West End . He knew it was about the great Hoggarty diamond , and gave us permission ; so off we set . When we reached St. Martin 's Lane , Gus got a cigar , to give himself as it were a _ distingue _ air , and pulled at it all the way up the Lane , and through the alleys into Coventry Street , where Mr. Polonius 's shop is , as everybody knows . The door was open , and a number of carriages full of ladies were drawing up and setting down .