Sentence:  Edward Churchill <WSD>still</WSD> attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Up to a time, as in the preceding time.