four in the afternoon
Next day I went up to the telephone office and found that the king had passed through two towns that were on the line . I spotted his progress on the succeeding day in the same way . I kept these matters to myself . The third day 's reports showed that if he kept up his gait he would arrive by four in the afternoon . There was still no sign anywhere of interest in his coming ; there seemed to be no preparations making to receive him in state ; a strange thing , truly . Only one thing could explain this : that other magician had been cutting under me , sure . This was true .