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1569

4

About four o’clock

`` You will meet a great many women with beautiful shoulders in Touraine , '' he said , laughing . `` But if you are not tired we can cross the river and call at Clochegourde and you shall renew acquaintance with those particular shoulders . '' I agreed , not without a blush of shame and pleasure . About four o'clock we reached the little chateau on which my eyes had fastened from the first . The building , which is finely effective in the landscape , is in reality very modest . It has five windows on the front ; those at each end of the facade , looking south , project about twelve feet , -- an architectural device which gives the idea of two towers and adds grace to the structure . The middle window serves as a door from which you descend through a double portico into a terraced garden which joins the narrow strip of grass-land that skirts the Indre along its whole course .

1569

12

midday in summer

At the first gleam of day , the first note of the waking birds , I fled back among the trees of Frapesle and reached the house ; no one had seen me , no one suspected by absence , and I slept soundly until the bell rang for breakfast . When the meal was over I went down , in spite of the heat , to the meadow-lands for another sight of the Indre and its isles , the valley and its slopes , of which I seemed so passionate an admirer . But once there , thanks to a swiftness of foot like that of a loose horse , I returned to my punt , the willows , and Clochegourde . All was silent and palpitating , as a landscape is at midday in summer . The still foliage lay sharply defined on the blue of the sky ; the insects that live by light , the dragon-flies , the cantharides , were flying among the reeds and the ash-trees ; cattle chewed the cud in the shade , the ruddy earth of the vineyards glowed , the adders glided up and down the banks . What a change in the sparkling and coquettish landscape while I slept ! I sprang suddenly from the boat and ran up the road which went round Clochegourde for I fancied that I saw the count coming out .

1569

6

six in the morning

`` This happiness smiling on my gray and cloudy life seems good , '' she said to me the next day . That day I naturally spent at Clochegourde . I had been banished for five days , I was athirst for life . The count left at six in the morning for Tours . A serious disagreement had arisen between mother and daughter . The duchess wanted the countess to move to Paris , where she promised her a place at court , and where the count , reconsidering his refusal , might obtain some high position . Henriette , who was thought happy in her married life , would not reveal , even to her mother , her tragic sufferings and the fatal incapacity of her husband .

1569

8

eight o’clock

The motion of her head as she looked towards the Indre , the punt , the meadows , showed me that in my absence she had come to many an understanding with those misty horizons and their vaporous outline . Nature was a mantle which sheltered her thoughts . She now knew what the nightingale was sighing the livelong night , what the songster of the sedges hymned with his plaintive note . At eight o'clock that evening I was witness of a scene which touched me deeply , and which I had never yet witnessed , for in my former visits I had played backgammon with the count while his wife took the children into the dining-room before their bedtime . The bell rang twice , and all the servants of the household entered the room . `` You are now our guest and must submit to convent rule , '' said the countess , leading me by the hand with that air of innocent gaiety which distinguishes women who are naturally pious . The count followed .

1569

1

one o’clock

She was calm and pure , but I was lashed with maddening ideas . `` Why should she not be mine ? '' I thought ; `` perhaps she is , like me , in this whirlwind of agitation . '' At one o'clock , I went down , walking noiselessly , and lay before her door . With my ear pressed to a chink I could hear her equable , gentle breathing , like that of a child . When chilled to the bone I went back to bed and slept tranquilly till morning . I know not what prenatal influence , what nature within me , causes the delight I take in going to the brink of precipices , sounding the gulf of evil , seeking to know its depths , feeling its icy chill , and retreating in deep emotion .

1569

23

eleven o’clock at night

Our emotions were so great that for a time we did not notice it was raining heavily . `` Will Madame la comtesse wait here under shelter ? '' asked the coachman , pointing to the chief inn of Ballan . She made a sign of assent , and we stayed nearly half an hour under the vaulted entrance , to the great surprise of the inn-people who wondered what brought Madame de Mortsauf on that road at eleven o'clock at night . Was she going to Tours ? Had she come from there ? When the storm ceased and the rain turned to what is called in Touraine a `` brouee , '' which does not hinder the moon from shining through the higher mists as the wind with its upper currents whirls them away , the coachman drove from our shelter , and , to my great delight , turned to go back the way we came .

1569

0

about midnight

The dog led me to an oak , from which , as I came up , Arabella galloped crying out to me , `` Come ! away ! away ! '' All that I could do was to follow her to Saint Cyr , which we reached about midnight . `` That lady is in perfect health , '' said Arabella as she dismounted . Those who know her can alone imagine the satire contained in that remark , dryly said in a tone which meant , `` I should have died ! '' `` I forbid you to utter any of your sarcasms about Madame de Mortsauf , '' I said .

1569

4

four o’clock

I have since remarked that most women who ride well on horseback have little tenderness . Like the Amazons , they lack a breast ; their hearts are hard in some direction , but I do not know in which . At the moment when I begin to feel the burden of the yoke , when weariness took possession of soul and body too , when at last I comprehended the sanctity that true feeling imparts to love , when memories of Clochegourde were bringing me , in spite of distance , the fragrance of the roses , the warmth of the terrace , and the warble of the nightingales , -- at this frightful moment , when I saw the stony bed beneath me as the waters of the torrent receded , I received a blow which still resounds in my heart , for at every hour its echo wakes . I was working in the cabinet of the king , who was to drive out at four o'clock . The Duc de Lenoncourt was on service . When he entered the room the king asked him news of the countess . I raised my head hastily in too eager a manner ; the king , offended by the action , gave me the look which always preceded the harsh words he knew so well how to say .

1569

9

nine o’clock

At a sign from the Abbe Birotteau the old huntsman went to fetch the curate of Sache . The doctor , standing by the bed , calm as science , and holding the hand of the still sleeping woman , had made the confessor a sign to say that this sleep was the only hour without pain which remained for the recalled angel . The moment had come to administer the last sacraments of the Church . At nine o'clock she awoke quietly , looked at us with surprised but gentle eyes , and we beheld our idol once more in all the beauty of former days . `` Mother ! you are too beautiful to die -- life and health are coming back to you ! '' cried Madeleine .

1569

12

autumn midday

My thoughts wandered into far-off regions while my eyes were fastened on the splendid tapestry of the yellowing oaks , the stern summits , the bronzed foothills . I asked myself if Henriette 's virtue were not , after all , that of ignorance , and if I were indeed guilty of her death . I fought against remorse . At last , in the sweetness of an autumn midday , one of those last smiles of heaven which are so beautiful in Touraine , I read the letter which at her request I was not to open before her death . Judge of my feelings as I read it . Madame de Mortsauf to the Vicomte Felix de Vandenesse : Felix , friend , loved too well , I must now lay bare my heart to you , -- not so much to prove my love as to show you the weight of obligation you have incurred by the depth and gravity of the wounds you have inflicted on it . At this moment , when I sink exhausted by the toils of life , worn out by the shocks of its battle , the woman within me is , mercifully , dead ; the mother alone survives .

1298

12

noon

Yet I liked the company , and wished that it would like me . `` Just come to town ? '' inquired Steve of the Virginian . `` Been here since noon . Been waiting for the train . '' `` Going out to-night ? '' `` I reckon I 'll pull out to-morro ' . ''

1298

3

three in the morning

Then a railroad employee entered and began to go to bed at this hour , before dusk had wholly darkened into night . For him , going to bed meant removing his boots and placing his overalls and waistcoat beneath his pillow . He had no coat . His work began at three in the morning ; and even as we still talked he began to snore . `` The man that keeps the store is a friend of mine , '' said the Virginian ; `` and you can be pretty near comfortable on his counter . Got any blankets ? '' I had no blankets .

1298

9

nine o'clock

I was surprised . Possession being nine points of the law , it seemed his very chance to intrench himself in the bed . But the cow-puncher had planned a campaign needing no intrenchments . Moreover , going to bed before nine o'clock upon the first evening in many weeks that a town 's resources were open to you , would be a dull proceeding . Our entire company , drummer and all , now walked over to the store , and here my sleeping arrangements were made easily . This store was the cleanest place and the best in Medicine Bow , and would have been a good store anywhere , offering a multitude of things for sale , and kept by a very civil proprietor . He bade me make myself at home , and placed both of his counters at my disposal .

1298

7

seven o'clock

`` Then you 'd better find another jackass , '' she replied quietly . I was glad that I had not asked for a clean towel . From the commercial travellers I now separated myself , and wandered alone in pleasurable aimlessness . It was seven o'clock . Medicine Bow stood voiceless and unpeopled . The cow-boys had melted away . The inhabitants were indoors , pursuing the business or the idleness of the forenoon .

1298

9

nine o'clock

A tame young elk walked in and out of the cabin door , and during supper it tried to push me off my chair . A half-tame mountain sheep practised jumping from the ground to the roof . The cabin was papered with posters of a circus , and skins of bear and silver fox lay upon the floor . Until nine o'clock one man talked to the Virginian , and one played gayly upon a concertina ; and then we all went to bed . The air was like December , but in my blankets and a buffalo robe I kept warm , and luxuriated in the Rocky Mountain silence . Going to wash before breakfast at sunrise , I found needles of ice in a pail . Yet it was hard to remember that this quiet , open , splendid wilderness -LRB- with not a peak in sight just here -RRB- was six thousand feet high .

1298

12

noon

And when breakfast was over there was no December left ; and by the time the Virginian and I were ten miles upon our way , it was June . But always every breath that I breathed was pure as water and strong as wine . We never passed a human being this day . Some wild cattle rushed up to us and away from us ; antelope stared at us from a hundred yards ; coyotes ran skulking through the sage-brush to watch us from a hill ; at our noon meal we killed a rattlesnake and shot some young sage chickens , which were good at supper , roasted at our camp-fire . By half-past eight we were asleep beneath the stars , and by half-past four I was drinking coffee and shivering . The horse , Buck , was hard to catch this second morning . Whether some hills that we were now in had excited him , or whether the better water up here had caused an effervescence in his spirits , I can not say .

1298

11

about eleven o'clock

The horse , Buck , was hard to catch this second morning . Whether some hills that we were now in had excited him , or whether the better water up here had caused an effervescence in his spirits , I can not say . But I was as hot as July by the time we had him safe in harness , or , rather , unsafe in harness . For Buck , in the mysterious language of horses , now taught wickedness to his side partner , and about eleven o'clock they laid their evil heads together and decided to break our necks . We were passing , I have said , through a range of demi-mountains . It was a little country where trees grew , water ran , and the plains were shut out for a while . The road had steep places in it , and places here and there where you could fall off and go bounding to the bottom among stones .

1298

12

noon

But this was only in the morning . In the afternoon on many days of the summer which I spent at the Sunk Creek Ranch I would go shooting , or ride up toward the entrance of the canyon and watch the men working on the irrigation ditches . Pleasant systems of water running in channels were being led through the soil , and there was a sound of rippling here and there among the yellow grain ; the green thick alfalfa grass waved almost , it seemed , of its own accord , for the wind never blew ; and when at evening the sun lay against the plain , the rift of the canyon was filled with a violet light , and the Bow Leg Mountains became transfigured with hues of floating and unimaginable color . The sun shone in a sky where never a cloud came , and noon was not too warm nor the dark too cool . And so for two months I went through these pleasant uneventful days , improving the chickens , an object of mirth , living in the open air , and basking in the perfection of content . I was justly styled a tenderfoot . Mrs. Henry had in the beginning endeavored to shield me from this humiliation ; but when she found that I was inveterate in laying my inexperience of Western matters bare to all the world , begging to be enlightened upon rattlesnakes , prairie-dogs , owls , blue and willow grouse , sage-hens , how to rope a horse or tighten the front cinch of my saddle , and that my spirit soared into enthusiasm at the mere sight of so ordinary an animal as a white-tailed deer , she let me rush about with my firearms and made no further effort to stave off the ridicule that my blunders perpetually earned from the ranch hands , her own humorous husband , and any chance visitor who stopped for a meal or stayed the night .

1298

12

Monday noon

The next day Miss Wood had become very hard . In three weeks she had accepted the position on Bear Creek . In two months she started , heart-heavy , but with a spirit craving the unknown . On a Monday noon a small company of horsemen strung out along the trail from Sunk Creek to gather cattle over their allotted sweep of range . Spring was backward , and they , as they rode galloping and gathering upon the cold week 's work , cursed cheerily and occasionally sang . The Virginian was grave in bearing and of infrequent speech ; but he kept a song going -- a matter of some seventy-nine verses . Seventy-eight were quite unprintable , and rejoiced his brother cow-punchers monstrously .

1298

12

Monday noon

Oh , sugar ! '' They found pleasure in the delicately chosen shade of this oath . He also recited to them a new verse about how he took his Looloo girl to the schoolhouse for to learn her A B C ; and as it was quite original and unprintable , the camp laughed and swore joyfully , and rolled in its blankets to sleep under the stars . Upon a Monday noon likewise -LRB- for things will happen so -RRB- some tearful people in petticoats waved handkerchiefs at a train that was just leaving Bennington , Vermont . A girl 's face smiled back at them once , and withdrew quickly , for they must not see the smile die away . She had with her a little money , a few clothes , and in her mind a rigid determination neither to be a burden to her mother nor to give in to that mother 's desires . Absence alone would enable her to carry out this determination .

1298

6

six in the morning

But on the following day , after breakfast at North Platte , Nebraska , she wrote a very long letter indeed , and told them that she had seen a black pig on a white pile of buffalo bones , catching drops of water in the air as they fell from the railroad tank . She also wrote that trees were extraordinarily scarce . Each hour westward from the pig confirmed this opinion , and when she left the train at Rock Creek , late upon that fourth night , -- in those days the trains were slower , -- she knew that she had really attained the unknown , and sent an expensive telegram to say that she was quite well . At six in the morning the stage drove away into the sage-brush , with her as its only passenger ; and by sundown she had passed through some of the primitive perils of the world . The second team , virgin to harness , and displeased with this novelty , tried to take it off , and went down to the bottom of a gully on its eight hind legs , while Miss Wood sat mute and unflinching beside the driver . Therefore he , when it was over , and they on the proper road again , invited her earnestly to be his wife during many of the next fifteen miles , and told her of his snug cabin and his horses and his mine . Then she got down and rode inside , Independence and Grandmother Stark shining in her eye .

1298

10

ten o'clock

But he concluded that they might safely go on searching . Mrs. Westfall found Christopher at once in the green shawl of Anna Maria Dow , but all was not achieved thus in the twinkling of an eye . Mr. McLean had , it appeared , as James Westfall lugubriously pointed out , not merely `` swapped the duds ; he had shuffled the whole doggone deck ; '' and they cursed this Satanic invention . The fathers were but of moderate assistance ; it was the mothers who did the heavy work ; and by ten o'clock some unsolved problems grew so delicate that a ladies ' caucus was organized in a private room , -- no admittance for men , -- and what was done there I can only surmise . During its progress the search party returned . It had not found Mr. McLean . It had found a tree with a notice pegged upon it , reading , `` God bless our home ! ''

1298

12

noon

No solitary watercourse with margin of cottonwoods or willow thickets flowed here to stripe the dingy , yellow world with interrupting green , nor were cattle to be seen dotting the distance , nor moving objects at all , nor any bird in the soundless air . The last gate was shut by the Virginian , who looked back at the pleasant trees of the ranch , and then followed on in single file across the alkali of No Man 's Land . No cloud was in the sky . The desert 's grim noon shone sombrely on flat and hill . The sagebrush was dull like zinc . Thick heat rose near at hand from the caked alkali , and pale heat shrouded the distant peaks . There were five horses .

1298

6

Six o'clock

`` We 'll be in luck if we make any Sunk Creek this night . '' He went on with his breakfast , thinking aloud for the benefit of his companion , who made no comments , preferring silence to the discomfort of talking with a man whose vindictive humor was so thoroughly uppermost . He did not even listen very attentively , but continued his preparations for departure , washing the dishes , rolling the blankets , and moving about in his usual way of easy and visible good nature . `` Six o'clock , already , '' said Balaam , saddling the horses . `` And we 'll not get started for ten minutes more . '' Then he came to Pedro . `` So you have n't quit fooling yet , have n't you ? ''

1298

12

noon

How far do you call Sunk Creek now ? '' `` Well , '' said the Virginian , calculating , `` it 's mighty nigh fo ` ty miles from Muddy Crossin ' , an ' I reckon we 've come eighteen . '' `` Just about . It 's noon . '' Balaam snapped his watch shut . `` We 'll rest here till 12:30 . '' When it was time to go , the Virginian looked musingly at the mountains .

1298

12

12:30

`` Just about . It 's noon . '' Balaam snapped his watch shut . `` We 'll rest here till 12:30 . '' When it was time to go , the Virginian looked musingly at the mountains . `` We 'll need to travel right smart to get through the canyon to-night , '' he said . `` Tell you what , '' said Balaam ; `` we 'll rope the Judge 's horses together and drive 'em in front of us .

1298

12

midday

and at its third repetition he turned his head in surprise , but was no more heeded than were the bluffs and flowers where he was taking his own undirected choice of way . He carried her over ground she knew by heart -- Corncliff Mesa , Crowheart Butte , Westfall 's Crossing , Upper Canyon ; open land and woodland , pines and sage-brush , all silent and grave and lustrous in the sunshine . Once and again a ranchman greeted her , and wondered if she had forgotten who he was ; once she passed some cow-punchers with a small herd of steers , and they stared after her too . Bear Creek narrowed , its mountain-sides drew near , its little falls began to rush white in midday shadow , and the horse suddenly pricked his ears . Unguided , he was taking this advantage to go home . Though he had made but little way -- a mere beginning yet -- on this trail over to Sunk Creek , here was already a Sunk Creek friend whinnying good day to him , so he whinnied back and quickened his pace , and Molly started to life . What was Monte doing here ?

1298

12

noon

`` Listen , friend , '' said she . `` Nobody shall get you , and nobody shall get me . Now take some more brandy . '' `` It must be noon , '' said the cow-puncher , when she had drawn her hand away from him . `` I remember it was dark when -- when -- when I can remember . I reckon they were scared to follow me in so close to settlers . Else they would have been here . ''

1298

12

about noon

So the two nurses continued to sit until darkness at the windows weakened into gray , and the lamp was no more needed . Their patient was rambling again . Yet , into whatever scenes he went , there in some guise did the throb of his pain evidently follow him , and he lay hitching his great shoulder as if to rid it of the cumbrance . They waited for the doctor , not daring much more than to turn pillows and give what other ease they could ; and then , instead of the doctor , came a messenger , about noon , to say he was gone on a visit some thirty miles beyond , where Taylor had followed to bring him here as soon as might be . At this Molly consented to rest and to watch , turn about ; and once she was over in her friend 's house lying down , they tried to keep her there . But the revolutionist could not be put down , and when , as a last pretext , Mrs. Taylor urged the proprieties and conventions , the pale girl from Vermont laughed sweetly in her face and returned to sit by the sick man . With the approach of the second night his fever seemed to rise and master him more completely than they had yet seen it , and presently it so raged that the women called in stronger arms to hold him down .

1298

12

noon

Did I believe in omens , the black storm that I set out in upon my horse would seem like one to-day . But I had been living in cities and smoke ; and Idaho , even with rain , was delightful to me . When the first landmark , the lone clump of cottonwoods , came at length in sight , dark and blurred in the gentle rain , standing out perhaps a mile beyond the distant buildings , my whole weary body hailed the approach of repose . Saving the noon hour , I had been in the saddle since six , and now six was come round again . The ranch , my resting-place for this night , was a ruin -- cabin , stable , and corral . Yet after the twelve hours of pushing on and on through silence , still to have silence , still to eat and go to sleep in it , perfectly fitted the mood of both my flesh and spirit . At noon , when for a while I had thrown off my long oilskin coat , merely the sight of the newspaper half crowded into my pocket had been a displeasing reminder of the railway , and cities , and affairs .

1298

12

noon

Saving the noon hour , I had been in the saddle since six , and now six was come round again . The ranch , my resting-place for this night , was a ruin -- cabin , stable , and corral . Yet after the twelve hours of pushing on and on through silence , still to have silence , still to eat and go to sleep in it , perfectly fitted the mood of both my flesh and spirit . At noon , when for a while I had thrown off my long oilskin coat , merely the sight of the newspaper half crowded into my pocket had been a displeasing reminder of the railway , and cities , and affairs . But for its possible help to build fires , it would have come no farther with me . The great levels around me lay cooled and freed of dust by the wet weather , and full of sweet airs . Far in front the foot-hills rose through the rain , indefinite and mystic .

1298

1

one after one

I heard the whisperers cease and separate . I heard their boots as they cast them off upon the ground . And I heard the breathing of slumber begin and grow in the interior silence . To one after one sleep came , but not to me . Outside , the dull fall of the rain beat evenly , and in some angle dripped the spouting pulses of a leak . Sometimes a cold air blew in , bearing with it the keen wet odor of the sage-brush . On hundreds of other nights this perfume had been my last waking remembrance ; it had seemed to help drowsiness ; and now I lay staring , thinking of this .

1298

6

Twelve minutes to seven

It was again I that spoke . `` What time is it ? '' He brooded over his watch . `` Twelve minutes to seven . '' I rose and stood drawing on my clothes . `` The fire 's out , '' said he ; and he assembled some new sticks over the ashes . Presently he looked round with a cup .

1298

7

Ten minutes past seven

While I wound it he seemed to be consulting his own . `` Well ? '' I inquired . `` Ten minutes past seven . '' As I was setting my watch he slowly said : `` Steve wound his all regular . I had to night-guard him till two . '' His speech was like that of one in a trance : so , at least , it sounds in my memory to-day .

1298

1

one o'clock

He 's a poor trapper , and walks . '' `` Packhorses ai n't usually shod before and behind , '' said the Virginian ; and sliding to the ground he touched the footprints . `` They are not four hours old , '' said he . `` This bank 's in shadow by one o'clock , and the sun has not cooked them dusty . '' We continued on our way ; and although it seemed no very particular thing to me that a man should choose to walk and lead his horse for a while , -- I often did so to limber my muscles , -- nevertheless I began to catch the Virginian 's uncertain feeling about this traveller whose steps had appeared on our path in mid-journey , as if he had alighted from the mid-air , and to remind myself that he had come over the great face of rock from another trail and thus joined us , and that indigent trappers are to be found owning but a single horse and leading him with their belongings through the deepest solitudes of the mountains -- none of this quite brought back to me the comfort which had been mine since we left the cottonwoods out of sight down in the plain . Hence I called out sharply , `` What 's the matter now ? '' when the Virginian suddenly stopped his horse again .

1298

3

three in the morning

My ropes had become straws ; and I strove to frame some policy for the next hours . We now finished breakfast and set forth to catch the horses . As we drove them in I found that the Virginian was telling me a ghost story . `` At half-past three in the morning she saw her runaway daughter standing with a babe in her arms ; but when she moved it was all gone . Later they found it was the very same hour the young mother died in Nogales . And she sent for the child and raised it herself . I knowed them both back home .

1298

0

midnight

No doubt it was to save his own life . And so she bore the hurt of her discovery all the more easily because her sister 's tone roused her to defend her cow-boy . But now ! In her cabin , alone , after midnight , she arose from her sleepless bed , and lighting the candle , stood before his photograph . `` It is a good face , '' her great-aunt had said , after some study of it . And these words were in her mind now . There his likeness stood at full length , confronting her : the spurs on the boots , the fringed leathern chaparreros , the coiled rope in hand , the pistol at hip , the rough flannel shirt , and the scarf knotted at the throat -- and then the grave eyes , looking at her .

1298

12

noon

But first , they delayed for no reason , save that in these hours they so loved to do nothing . And next , when with some energy he got upon his feet and declared he must go and drive the horses in , she asked , Why ? Would it not be well for him to fish here , that they might be sure of trout at their nooning ? And though he knew that where they should stop for noon , trout would be as sure as here , he took this chance for more delay . She went with him to his fishing rock , and sat watching him . The rock was tall , higher than his head when he stood . It jutted out halfway across the stream , and the water flowed round it in quick foam , and fell into a pool .

1299

12

midday

Which proves once more how fortunate it is that we can not always see too deeply into the thoughts and motives of our friends . In Tijeras Arroyo the moon made black shadows where stood the tiny knolls here and there , marking frequently the windings of dry washes where bushes grew in ragged patches and where tall weeds of mid-May tangled in the wind . The roundup tents of the Flying U Feature Film Company stood white as new snow in the moonlight , though daylight showed them an odd , light-blue tint for photographic purposes . On a farther slope cunningly placed by the scenic artist to catch the full sunlight of midday , the camp of the Chavez brothers gleamed softly in the magic light . So far had spring roundup progressed that Luck was holding the camp in Tijeras Arroyo for picture-making only . Applehead 's calves were branded , to the youngest pair of knock-kneed twins which Happy Jack found curled up together cunningly hidden in a thicket . They had been honored with a `` close-up '' scene , those two spotted calves , and were destined to further honors which they did not suspect and could not appreciate .

1299

0

midnight

So far had spring roundup progressed that Luck was holding the camp in Tijeras Arroyo for picture-making only . Applehead 's calves were branded , to the youngest pair of knock-kneed twins which Happy Jack found curled up together cunningly hidden in a thicket . They had been honored with a `` close-up '' scene , those two spotted calves , and were destined to further honors which they did not suspect and could not appreciate . They slept now , as slept the two camps upon the two slopes that lay moon-bathed at midnight . Back where the moon was making the barren mountains a wonderland of deep purple and black and silvery gray and brown , a coyote yapped a falsetto message and was answered by one nearer at hand -- his mate , it might be . In a bush under the bank that made of it a black blot in the unearthly whiteness of the sand , a little bird fluttered uneasily and sent a small , inquiring chirp into the stillness . From somewhere farther up the arroyo drifted a faint , aromatic odor of cigarette smoke .

1299

0

midnight

I mind priest , I read prayers , I mind Wagalexa Conka -- '' There she faltered , for the last boast was no longer the truth . Ramon was quick to seize upon the one weak point of her armor . `` So ? He send yoh then to talk with Ramon at midnight ? Yoh come to please yoh boss ? '' Annie-Many-Ponies turned her troubled face his way . `` Wagalexa Conka sleep plenty .

1299

0

midnight

I got long ride away off -- to my rancho . I got to see my brother Tomas . I be back here not before night . Yoh tell Bill Holmes he come here by this rock -- yoh say midnight that 's good time -- I sure be here that time . Yoh say I got something I wan ' tell him . Yoh do that for Ramon , sweetheart ? '' He waited , trying to hide the fact that he was anxious .

1299

0

midnight

I know you feel about as I do on some subjects ; you never did like dirt around you , no better ` n -- '' `` Get to the point , man . What 's wrong ? '' So Applehead , turning a darker shade of red than was his usual hue , cleared his throat and blurted out what he had to say . He had heard Shunka Chistala whinnying at midnight in the tent of Annie-Many-Ponies , and had gone outside to see what was the matter . He did n't know , he explained , but what his cat Compadre was somehow involved . He had stood in the shadow of his tent for a few minutes , and had seen Bill Holmes sneak into camp , coming from up the arroyo somewhere . For some reason he waited a little longer , and he had seen a woman 's shadow move stealthily up to the front of Annie 's tent , and had seen Annie slip inside and had heard her whisper a command of some sort to the dog , which had immediately hushed its whining .

1299

15

three o'clock in the afternoon

Ramon and Luis Rojas had proven themselves artists in this particular line of work , and the cashier , when it was all over and the camera and company were busily at work elsewhere , lived it in his imagination and felt that he was at least tasting the full flavor of red-blooded adventure without having to pay the usual price of bitterness and bodily suffering . He was mistaken , of course -- as I am going to explain . What the cashier had taken part in was not the adventure itself but merely a rehearsal and general preparation for the real performance . This had been on Wednesday , just after three o'clock in the afternoon . On Saturday forenoon the cashier was called upon the phone and asked if a part of that robbery stuff could be retaken that day . The cashier thrilled instantly at the thought of it . Certainly , they could retake as much as they pleased .

1299

12

ten minutes past twelve

Boy , your work 's sure going to stand out on the screen ! '' Can you blame the cashier for drinking in every word of that , and for emptying the vault of gold and stacking it up in beautiful , high piles where the sun shone on it through the window -- and where it would be within easy reach , by the way ! -- so that the camera could `` register '' it ? At ten minutes past twelve he had gotten rid of patrons and clerks , and he had the gold out and his green eyeshade adjusted as becomingly as a green eyeshade may be adjusted . He looked out and saw that the street was practically empty , because of the hour and the heat that was almost intolerable where the sun shone full . He saw a big red machine drive up to the corner and stop , and he saw a man climb out with camera already screwed , to the tripod . He saw the bandits throw away their cigarettes and follow the camera man , and then he hurried back and took up his station beside the stacks of gold , and waited in a twitter of excitement for this unhoped-for encore of last Wednesday 's glorious performance .

1299

9

nine o'clock

The sheriff could be pretty blunt , and he shot the charge straight , without any quibbling . Luck looked a little blank ; and old Applehead , shaking with a very real anger now , shoved Luck away and stepped up where he could shake his fist under the sheriff 's nose . `` We do n't know , and we do n't give a cuss , what you 're aimin ' at , '' he thundered . `` We been out here workin ' in this brilin ' sun sense nine o'clock this mornin ' . Luck ai n't robbed no bank , ner he ai n't the kind that DOES rob banks , and I 'm here to see you swaller them words ` fore I haul ye off 'n that horse and plumb wear ye out ! Yuh wanta think twicet ` fore ye come ridin ' up where I kin hear yuh call Luck Lindsay a thief , now I 'm tellin ' ye ! If a bank was robbed , ye better be gittin ' out after them that done it , and git outa the way uh that camery sos ' t we can git t ' work !

1299

1

about one o'clock

He proceeded therefore to explain his errand and the robbery as the cashier had described it to the clerks who returned after lunch to finish their Saturday 's work at the bank . `` Fifteen thousand they claim is what the fellers got . And one of your men that runs the camera was keeping up a bluff of taking a pitcher of it all the time -- that 's why they got away with it . Nobody suspicioned it was anything more 'n moving-pitcher acting till they found the cashier and brought him toy along about one o'clock . It was that Chavez feller that you had working for yuh , and Luis Rojas that done it -- them and a couple fellers stalling outside with the camera . '' `` I wonder , '' hazarded Pete Lowry , who had come down and joined the group , `` if that was n't Bill Holmes with the camera ? He was a lot more friendly with Ramon than he tried to let on . ''

1299

1

one O'clock

He sent a hundred-and-fifty-word message to Dewitt of the Great Western Company in Los Angeles , explaining with perfect frankness the situation and his determination to get out after the robbers , and made it plain also that he would not expect salary for the time he spent in the chase . He ended by saying tersely , `` My reputation and standing of company here at stake , '' and signed his name in a hasty scrawl that made the operator scratch his ear reflectively with his pencil when he had counted the words down to the signature . After that , Luck gave every ounce of his energy and every bit of his brain to the outfitting of the expedition . So well did he accomplish the task that by one O'clock that night a low-voiced company of men rode away from a livery stable in the heart of the town , leading four pack-horses and heading as straight as might be for the bridge . They met no one ; they saw scarcely a light in any of the windows that they passed . A chill wind crept up the river so that they buttoned their coats when the hoofbeats of the horses sounded hollow on the bridge . Out through the lane that leads to Atrisco , which slept in the stolid blackness of low adobe houses with flat roofs and tiny windows , they rode at a trot .

1299

12

Noon

Big Medicine roared cheerfully , inspecting a battered plug of `` chewin ' '' to see where was the most inviting corner in which to set his teeth . `` Me 'n' trouble has locked horns more 'n once , 'n' I 'd feel right lonesome if I thought our trails 'd never cross agin . Why , down in Coconino County -- '' He went off into a long recital of certain extremely bloody chapters in the history of that famed county as chronicled by one Bud Welch , otherwise known as Big Medicine -- and not because of his modesty , you may be sure . Noon of that day found them plodding across a high , barren mesa under a burning sun . Since red dawn they had been riding , and the horses showed their need of water . They lagged often into a heavy-footed walk and their ears drooped dispiritedly . Even Big Medicine found nothing cheerful to say .

1299

12

noon

The last time he came sliding down to the others his face was not so heavy with anxiety and his voice when he spoke had a new briskness . `` There 's a ranch of some kind straight ahead about two miles , '' he announced . `` I could see a green patch , so there must be water around there somewhere . We 'll make noon camp there , and maybe we can dig up a little information . Ramon must have stopped there for water , and we 'll find out just how far we are behind . '' The ranch , when they finally neared it , proved to be a huddle of low , octagon-shaped huts -LRB- called hogans -RRB- made of short cedar logs and plastered over with adobe , with a hole in the center of the lid-like roof to let the smoke out and a little light in ; and dogs , that ran out and barked and yelped and trailed into mourning rumbles and then barked again ; and half-naked papooses that scurried like rabbits for shelter when they rode up ; and two dingy , shapeless squaws that disappeared within a hogan and peered out at one side of the blanket door . Luck started to dismount and make some attempt at a polite request for water , and for information as well , but Applehead objected and finally had his way .

1299

12

midday

`` When I was shurf -- '' The enlivened jumble of voices , each proclaiming the owner 's hopes or desires or disbelief to ears that were not listening , quite submerged Applehead 's remarks upon the subject of his wellknown prowess when he was `` shurf . '' The Happy Family were sprawled in unwonted luxury on the shady side of an outcropping of rock from under which a little spring seeped and made a small oasis in the general barrenness . They had shade , they Had water and food , and through the thin aromatic smoke of their cigarettes they could watch their horses cropping avidly the green grass that meant so much to them . The knowledge that an hour later they would be traveling again in the blazing heat of midday but emphasized their present comfort . They were enjoying every minute to its full sixty seconds . Laughter came easily and the hardships of the trail were pushed into the background of their minds . They were not particularly anxious over the success or failure of Luck 's trip to the hogans .

14204

3

three o'clock

The news , made public in the newspapers , had raised a storm of protest . The people in the vicinity claimed that the railroad secured the land on the express condition of a park being laid out , and in order to make a legal test they had secured an injunction , which had been sustained by Judge Rossmore of the United States Circuit Court . These details were hastily told and re-told by one clerk to another as the babel of voices in the inner room grew louder , and more directors kept arriving from the ever-busy elevators . The meeting was called for three o'clock . Another five minutes and the chairman would rap for order . A tall , strongly built man with white moustache and kindly smile emerged from the directors room and , addressing one of the clerks , asked : `` Has Mr. Ryder arrived yet ? '' The alacrity with which the employé hastened forward to reply would indicate that his interlocutor was a person of more than ordinary importance .

14204

7

seven o'clock

Shirley explained . Her aunt wanted to go to the dressmaker 's , and she herself was most anxious to go to the Luxembourg Gardens to hear the music . Would he take her ? Then they could meet Mrs. Blake at the hotel at seven o'clock and all go to dinner . Was he willing ? Was he ? Jefferson 's face fairly glowed .

14204

7

seven o'clock

_ '' Down went Jefferson 's hand in his pocket and , filling the child 's hand with small silver , he flung the flowers in the carriage . Then he turned inquiringly to Shirley for instructions so he could direct the _ cocher _ . Mrs. Blake said she would get out here . Her dressmaker was close by , in the Rue Auber , and she would walk back to the hotel to meet them at seven o'clock . Jefferson assisted her to alight and escorted her as far as the _ porte-cochère _ of the modiste 's , a couple of doors away . When he returned to the carriage , Shirley had already told the coachman where to go . He got in and the _ fiacre _ started .

14204

7

seven o'clock

`` Now , '' said Shirley , `` tell me what you have been doing with yourself all day . '' Jefferson was busily arranging the faded carriage rug about Shirley , spending more time in the task perhaps than was absolutely necessary , and she had to repeat the question . `` Doing ? '' he echoed with a smile , `` I 've been doing two things -- waiting impatiently for seven o'clock and incidentally reading the notices of your book . '' `` Tell me , what do the papers say ? '' Settling herself comfortably back in the carriage , Shirley questioned Jefferson with eagerness , even anxiety . She had been impatiently awaiting the arrival of the newspapers from `` home , '' for so much depended on this first effort .

14204

6

a quarter past six

No more such sentimental speeches as you made just now . '' Jefferson beamed . He felt at least two inches taller , and at that moment he would not have changed places with any one in the world . To hide the embarrassment his gratification caused him he pulled out his watch and exclaimed : `` Why , it 's a quarter past six . We shall have all we can do to get back to the hotel and dress for dinner . '' Shirley rose at once , although loath to leave . `` I had no idea it was so late , '' she said .

14204

10

nearly ten o'clock

-LSB- Photo , from the play , of the Ryder household as Jefferson is introduced to Miss Green . -RSB- `` Father , I 've changed my mind , I 'm not going away . '' -- Act II . It was nearly ten o'clock when they had finished . They sat a little longer listening to the gipsy music , weird and barbaric . Very pointedly , Shirley remarked : `` I for one preferred the music this afternoon . '' `` Why ? ''

14204

4

four o'clock

Barely twenty-four years old , she was still in the first flush of youth and health , and there was nothing she loved so much as exercise and fresh air . After a few turns on deck , there was a ruddy glow in her cheeks that was good to see and many an admiring glance was cast at the young couple as they strode briskly up and down past the double rows of elongated steamer chairs . They had the deck pretty much to themselves . It was only four o'clock , too early for the appetite-stimulating walk before dinner , and their fellow passengers were basking in the sunshine , stretched out on their chairs in two even rows like so many mummies on exhibition . Some were reading , some were dozing . Two or three were under the weather , completely prostrated , their bilious complexion of a deathly greenish hue . At each new roll of the ship , they closed their eyes as if resigned to the worst that might happen and their immediate neighbours furtively eyed each of their movements as if apprehensive of what any moment might bring forth .

14204

11

about 11 o'clock Friday morning

asked Mrs. Blake anxiously , forgetting that this was one of the questions which according to ship etiquette must never be asked of the officers . But as long as he could ignore Mrs. Blake and gaze at Shirley Capt. Hegermann did not mind . He answered amiably : `` At the rate we are going , we ought to sight Fire Island sometime to-morrow evening . If we do , that will get us to our dock about 11 o'clock Friday morning , I fancy . '' Then addressing Shirley direct he said : `` And you , fraulein , I hope you wo n't be glad the voyage is over ? '' Shirley sighed and a worried , anxious look came into her face . `` Yes , Captain , I shall be very glad .

14204

12

noon

He made a pretence to read , but it was plain to see that his mind was not on his book . He kept leaving his chair to go and look at the clock ; then he would lay the volume aside and wander from room to room like a lost soul . His thoughts were on the dock at Hoboken . By noon every little detail had been attended to and there was nothing further to do but sit and wait for the arrival of Stott and Shirley . They were to be expected any moment now . The passengers had probably got off the steamer by eleven o'clock . It would take at least two hours to get through the Customs and out to Massapequa .

14204

11

eleven o'clock

His thoughts were on the dock at Hoboken . By noon every little detail had been attended to and there was nothing further to do but sit and wait for the arrival of Stott and Shirley . They were to be expected any moment now . The passengers had probably got off the steamer by eleven o'clock . It would take at least two hours to get through the Customs and out to Massapequa . The judge and his wife sat on the porch counting the minutes and straining their ears to catch the first sound of the train from New York . `` I hope Stott broke the news to her gently , '' said the judge .

14204

2

two o'clock

She was anxious to make a favourable impression on the financier , so she took some pains with her personal appearance . She always looked stylish , no matter what she wore , and her poverty was of too recent date to make much difference to her wardrobe , which was still well supplied with Paris-made gowns . She selected a simple close-fitting gown of gray chiffon cloth and a picture hat of Leghorn straw heaped with red roses , Shirley 's favourite flower . Thus arrayed , she sallied forth at two o'clock -- a little gray mouse to do battle with the formidable lion . The sky was threatening , so instead of walking a short way up Fifth Avenue for exercise , as she had intended doing , she cut across town through Ninth Street , and took the surface car on Fourth Avenue . This would put her down at Madison Avenue and Seventy-fourth Street , which was only a block from the Ryder residence . She looked so pretty and was so well dressed that the passers-by who looked after her wondered why she did not take a cab instead of standing on a street corner for a car .

14204

3

three o'clock

He was turning to go in the direction of the library when Bagley stopped him . `` You can not possibly see him now , '' he said . `` Sergeant Ellison of the Secret Service is in there with him , and your father told me not to disturb him on any account . He has another appointment at three o'clock with some woman who writes books . '' Seeing that the fellow was in earnest , Jefferson did not insist . He could see his father a little later or send him a message through his mother . Proceeding upstairs he found Mrs. Ryder in her room and in a few energetic words he explained the situation to his mother .

14204

4

four o'clock

It was his duty to unveil a rascal who was using the Ryder roof and name to further his own ends and victimize a girl who , although sophisticated enough to know better , was too silly to realize the risk she ran at the hands of an unscrupulous man . Hesitating no longer , Jefferson tore open the envelope and read : My dearest wife that is to be : I have arranged everything . Next Wednesday -- just a week from to-day -- we will go to the house of a discreet friend of mine where a minister will marry us ; then we will go to City Hall and get through the legal part of it . Afterwards , we can catch the four o'clock train for Buffalo . Meet me in the ladies ' room at the Holland House Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. I will come there with a closed cab . Your devoted FITZ . `` Phew ! ''

14204

11

11 a.m.

Hesitating no longer , Jefferson tore open the envelope and read : My dearest wife that is to be : I have arranged everything . Next Wednesday -- just a week from to-day -- we will go to the house of a discreet friend of mine where a minister will marry us ; then we will go to City Hall and get through the legal part of it . Afterwards , we can catch the four o'clock train for Buffalo . Meet me in the ladies ' room at the Holland House Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. I will come there with a closed cab . Your devoted FITZ . `` Phew ! '' Jefferson whistled .

14204

2

A quarter to three

The financier was thinking , but his thoughts concerned neither the luckless gas president he had just pitilessly crushed , nor the detective who had come to make his report . He was thinking of the book `` The American Octopus , '' and its bold author whom he was to meet in a very few minutes . He glanced at the clock . A quarter to three . She would be here in fifteen minutes if she were punctual , but women seldom are , he reflected . What kind of a woman could she be , this Shirley Green , to dare cross swords with a man whose power was felt in two hemispheres ? No ordinary woman , that was certain .

14204

3

three o'clock

`` I 'm glad you 've found her , sir . '' `` It was a tough job , '' answered Ryder with a grimace . `` We wrote her half a dozen times before she was satisfied with the wording of the invitation . But , finally , we landed her and I expect her at three o'clock . Now what about that Rossmore girl ? Did you go down to Massapequa ? '' `` Yes , sir , I have been there half a dozen times .

14204

3

Three o'clock

There were times when even John Burkett Ryder could be polite . `` Yes , '' replied Shirley , her voice trembling a little ; in spite of her efforts to keep cool . `` I am here by appointment . Three o'clock , Mrs. Ryder 's note said . I am Miss Green . '' '' _ You _ -- Miss Green ? '' echoed the financier dubiously .

14204

12

noon

Yet she thought they could hardly infringe on Victor Hugo ; perhaps the best title was the simplest `` The History of the Empire Trading Company . '' Everyone would understand that it told the story of John Burkett Ryder 's remarkable career from his earliest beginnings to the present time . She worked feverishly all that evening getting the material into shape , and the following day found her early at her desk . No one disturbed her and she wrote steadily on until noon , Mrs. Ryder only once putting her head in the door to wish her good morning . After luncheon , Shirley decided that the weather was too glorious to remain indoors . Her health must not be jeopardized even to advance the interests of the Colossus , so she put on her hat and left the house to go for a walk . The air smelled sweet to her after being confined so long indoor , and she walked with a more elastic and buoyant step than she had since her return home .

14204

7

nearly seven o'clock

His lips met hers in a long , passionate kiss . Her eyes closed and an ecstatic thrill seemed to convulse her entire being . The birds in the trees overhead sang in more joyful chorus in celebration of the betrothal . It was nearly seven o'clock when Shirley got back to Seventy-fourth Street . No one saw her come in , and she went direct to her room , and after a hasty dinner , worked until late into the night on her book to make up for lost time . The events of the afternoon caused her considerable uneasiness . She reproached herself for her weakness and for having yielded so readily to the impulse of the moment .

14204

11

eleven o'clock

After all , she was only a woman and the ordeal through which she had passed would have taxed the strongest powers of endurance . She had borne up courageously while there remained the faintest chance that she might succeed in moving the financier to pity , but now that all hopes in that direction were shattered and she herself had been ordered harshly from the house like any ordinary malefactor , the reaction set in , and she gave way freely to her long pent-up anguish and distress . Nothing now could save her father -- not even this journey to Washington which she determined to take nevertheless , for , according to what Stott had said , the Senate was to take a vote that very night . She looked at the time -- eleven o'clock . She had told Mr. Ryder that she would leave his house at once , but on reflection it was impossible for a girl alone to seek a room at that hour . It would be midnight before she could get her things packed . No , she would stay under this hated roof until morning and then take the first train to Washington .

14204

0

midnight before

Nothing now could save her father -- not even this journey to Washington which she determined to take nevertheless , for , according to what Stott had said , the Senate was to take a vote that very night . She looked at the time -- eleven o'clock . She had told Mr. Ryder that she would leave his house at once , but on reflection it was impossible for a girl alone to seek a room at that hour . It would be midnight before she could get her things packed . No , she would stay under this hated roof until morning and then take the first train to Washington . There was still a chance that the vote might be delayed , in which case she might yet succeed in winning over some of the senators . She began to gather her things together and was thus engaged when she , heard a knock at her door .

14204

1

one o'clock

Ah , if he had had such a daughter he might have been a better man , if only to win his child 's respect and affection . John Ryder pondered long and deeply and the more he ruminated the stronger the conviction grew upon him that the girl was right and he was wrong . Suddenly , he looked at his watch . It was one o'clock . Roberts had told him that it would be an all night session and that a vote would probably not be taken until very late . He unhooked the telephone and calling `` central '' asked for `` long distance '' and connection with Washington . It was seven o'clock when the maid entered Shirley 's room with her breakfast and she found its occupant up and dressed .

14204

7

seven o'clock

It was one o'clock . Roberts had told him that it would be an all night session and that a vote would probably not be taken until very late . He unhooked the telephone and calling `` central '' asked for `` long distance '' and connection with Washington . It was seven o'clock when the maid entered Shirley 's room with her breakfast and she found its occupant up and dressed . `` Why you have n't been to bed , Miss ! '' exclaimed the girl , looking at the bed in the inner room which seemed scarcely disturbed . `` No , Theresa I -- I could n't sleep . ''

14204

9

nine o'clock

exclaimed the girl , looking at the bed in the inner room which seemed scarcely disturbed . `` No , Theresa I -- I could n't sleep . '' Hastily pouring out a cup of tea she added . `` I must catch that nine o'clock train to Washington . I did n't finish packing until nearly three . '' `` Can I do anything for you , Miss ? '' inquired the maid .

1563

1

one o’clock in the morning

`` He 's going to the theatre . '' `` Very well ; but his servants have remained behind at the Enghien villa ... '' `` The cook has been sent away . As for the valet , Leonard , who is Daubrecq 's confidential man , he 'll wait for his master in Paris . They ca n't get back from town before one o'clock in the morning . But ... '' `` But what ? '' `` We must reckon with a possible freak of fancy on Daubrecq 's part , a change of mind , an unexpected return , and so arrange to have everything finished and done with in an hour . '' `` And when did you get these details ? ''

1563

21

nine o’clock in the evening

`` The fellow 's clean off his chump ! '' muttered Lupin . `` By Jove ! ... To disturb the police at nine o'clock in the evening : there 's a notion for you ! '' He set to work again . It took longer than he expected , for they discovered in the cupboards all sorts of valuable knick-knacks which it would have been very wrong to disdain and , on the other hand , Vaucheray and Gilbert were going about their investigations with signs of laboured concentration that nonplussed him . At long last , he lost his patience : `` That will do ! ''

1563

7

seven o’clock

Prasville had sent his seconds to Daubrecq on the same day ; but Daubrecq refused to fight . A little while later , Prasville was appointed secretary-general . `` Very odd , very odd , '' said Lupin , who remained plunged in thought , while continuing to observe Prasville 's movements . At seven o'clock Prasville 's group of men moved away a few yards , in the direction of the Avenue Henri-Martin . The door of a small garden on the right of the house opened and Daubrecq appeared . The two detectives followed close behind him and , when he took the Rue-Taitbout train , jumped on after him . Prasville at once walked across the square and rang the bell .

1563

9

nine o’clock

`` No , he is looking for one . He has his meals out and the portress keeps the house as best she can . The woman is devoted to us ... '' Prasville persisted in his investigations for nearly an hour and a half , shifting and fingering all the knick-knacks , but taking care to put everything back exactly where he found it . At nine o'clock , however , the two detectives who had followed Daubrecq burst into the study : `` He 's coming back ! '' `` On foot ? '' `` Yes . '' `` Have we time ? ''

1563

11

eleven o’clock

The count 's steward gave her a perfect character , and she was engaged . As soon as she had fetched her trunk , she set to work and cleaned and scrubbed until it was time to cook the dinner . Daubrecq dined and went out . At eleven o'clock , after the portress had gone to bed , the cook cautiously opened the garden-gate . A man came up . `` Is that you ? '' she asked .

1563

4

four o’clock in the morning

And ... oh , rot ! ... Let 's get to sleep ! ... '' But he could not sleep ; and a good part of the night went in this way . At four o'clock in the morning he seemed to hear a noise in the house . He jumped up quickly and , from the top of the staircase , saw Daubrecq go down the first flight and turn toward the garden . A minute later , after opening the gate , the deputy returned with a man whose head was buried in an enormous fur collar and showed him into his study . Lupin had taken his precautions in view of any such contingency .

1563

4

four o’clock

In any case , there was one point to be cleared up : Daubrecq the deputy , whose life was so orderly , so apparently respectable , was in the habit of receiving visits at night , when his house was no longer watched by the police . He sent Victoire to arrange with two members of his gang to keep watch for several days . And he himself remained awake next night . As on the previous morning , he heard a noise at four o'clock . As on the previous morning , the deputy let some one in . Lupin ran down his ladder and , when he came to the free space above the shutters , saw a man crawling at Daubrecq 's feet , flinging his arms round Daubrecq 's knees in frenzied despair and weeping , weeping convulsively . Daubrecq , laughing , pushed him away repeatedly , but the man clung to him .

1563

11

eleven o’clock in the morning

He had no hope of striking that unassailable enemy . Even Daubrecq 's death would not deliver him from Daubrecq . He took his hat and went away . At eleven o'clock in the morning Victoire , on returning from her shopping , handed Lupin a note from his accomplices . He opened it and read : `` The man who came to see Daubrecq last night is Langeroux the deputy , leader of the independent left . A poor man , with a large family . '' `` Come , '' said Lupin , `` Daubrecq is nothing more nor less than a blackmailer ; but , by Jupiter , he has jolly effective ways of going to work ! ''

1563

20

eight o’clock in the evening

And he added , with a laugh , `` I hope that I shall not have the burglars in during that time . '' There was not a doubt in Lupin 's mind . Daubrecq was about to spend his evening in the same manner in which he had spent the evening six weeks ago , while they were breaking into his villa at Enghien . To know the person whom he was to meet and perhaps thus to discover how Gilbert and Vaucheray had learnt that Daubrecq would be away from eight o'clock in the evening until one o'clock in the morning : these were matters of the utmost importance . Lupin left the house in the afternoon , with Victoire 's assistance . He knew through her that Daubrecq was coming home for dinner earlier than usual . He went to his flat in the Rue Chateaubriand , telephoned for three of his friends , dressed and made himself up in his favourite character of a Russian prince , with fair hair and moustache and short-cut whiskers .

1563

22

ten o’clock in the evening

He gave them some dinner ; then he smoked a cigar and they set off again in the car and went the round of the theatres , beginning with those which were giving light operas and musical comedies , for which he presumed that Daubrecq and his lady would have a preference . He took a stall , inspected the lower-tier boxes and went away again . He next drove to the more serious theatres : the Renaissance , the Gymnase . At last , at ten o'clock in the evening , he saw a pit-tier box at the Vaudeville almost entirely protected from inspection by its two screens ; and , on tipping the boxkeeper , was told that it contained a short , stout , elderly gentleman and a lady who was wearing a thick lace veil . The next box was free . He took it , went back to his friends to give them their instructions and sat down near the couple . During the entr ' acte , when the lights went up , he perceived Daubrecq 's profile .

1563

3

three o’clock

At what time ? And where ? '' `` Well ... '' She looked at him with obvious hesitation , not knowing what to do , on the point of speaking and yet full of uneasiness and doubt . He pressed her : `` Oh , I entreat you ... answer me just one word ... and at once ... It would be a pity for him to find me here ... I entreat you ... '' She answered sharply : `` My name does n't matter ... We will see each other first and you shall explain to me ... Yes , we will meet ... Listen , to-morrow , at three o'clock , at the corner of the Boulevard ... '' At that exact moment , the door of the box opened , so to speak , with a bang , and Daubrecq appeared . `` Rats ! '' Lupin mumbled , under his breath , furious at being caught before obtaining what he wanted . Daubrecq gave a chuckle : `` So that 's it ... I thought something was up ... Ah , the telephone-trick : a little out of date , sir !

1563

5

five o’clock exactly

If it was to their interest to play me a trick , they 'd have tried before now . I 'm in their way , that 's all . They 're not afraid of me . So till later , Victoire , at five o'clock exactly . '' One further surprise awaited Lupin . In the evening his old nurse told him that , having opened the drawer of the bedside table from curiosity , she had found the crystal stopper there again . Lupin was no longer to be excited by these miraculous incidents .

1563

10

ten o’clock

Knowledge was at hand . Not only would he discover the manner in which his adversaries employed those little openings , which were apparently unemployable , since they did not allow a person to reach the upper bolts , but he would learn who the ingenious and energetic adversaries were with whom he repeatedly and inevitably found himself confronted . One incident annoyed him . In the evening Daubrecq , who had complained of feeling tired at dinner , came home at ten o'clock and , contrary to his usual custom , pushed the bolts of the hall-door . In that case , how would the others be able to carry out their plan and go to Daubrecq 's room ? Lupin waited for an hour after Daubrecq put out his light . Then he went down to the deputy 's study , opened one of the windows ajar and returned to the third floor and fixed his rope-ladder so that , in case of need , he could reach the study without passing though the house .

1563

3

three o’clock in the morning

Are you coming , Hercules ? '' He rolled the child in a blanket , so that only its head remained outside , gagged its mouth as gently as possible and made Victoire fasten it to his shoulders : `` See , Hercules ? We 're having a game . You never thought you 'd find gentlemen to play pick-a-back with you at three o'clock in the morning ! Come , whoosh , let 's fly away ! You do n't get giddy , I hope ? '' He stepped across the window-ledge and set foot on one of the rungs of the ladder .

1563

12

twelve o’clock at night

Vaucheray ruled us . I agreed to meet Daubrecq at the theatre . During this time the thing took place . When I came home , at twelve o'clock at night , I heard the terrible result : Leonard murdered , my son arrested . I at once received an intuition of the future . Daubrecq 's appalling prophecy was being realized : it meant trial and sentence . And this through my fault , through the fault of me , the mother , who had driven my son toward the abyss from which nothing could extricate him now . ''

1563

4

four o’clock

The next day Clarisse Mergy , who was nearly breaking down under the strain of events and who herself needed repose , lest she should fall seriously ill , went , with her son , to board with a friend who had a house on the skirt of the Forest of Saint-Germain . She felt very weak , her brain was haunted by visions and her nerves were upset by troubles which the least excitement aggravated . She lived there for some days in a state of physical and mental inertia , thinking of nothing and forbidden to see the papers . One afternoon , while Lupin , changing his tactics , was working out a scheme for kidnapping and confining Daubrecq ; while the Growler and the Masher , whom he had promised to forgive if he succeeded , were watching the enemy 's movements ; while the newspapers were announcing the forthcoming trial for murder of Arsene Lupin 's two accomplices , one afternoon , at four o'clock , the telephone-bell rang suddenly in the flat in the Rue Chateaubriand . Lupin took down the receiver : `` Hullo ! '' A woman 's voice , a breathless voice , said : `` M. Michel Beaumont ? '' `` You are speaking to him , madame .

1563

0

midnight

`` You 're sure ? You 're sure ? ... Yes , of course you are ! ... Well , when Madame Mergy wakes , tell her from me that I will bring her back her son this evening , before midnight . This evening , before midnight : it 's a solemn promise . '' With these words , Lupin hurried out of the house and , stepping into his car , shouted to the driver : `` Go to Paris , Square Lamartine , Daubrecq the deputy 's ! '' Lupin 's motor-car was not only an office , a writing-room furnished with books , stationery , pens and ink , but also a regular actor 's dressing-room , containing a complete make-up box , a trunk filled with every variety of wearing-apparel , another crammed with `` properties '' -- umbrellas , walking-sticks , scarves , eye-glasses and so on -- in short , a complete set of paraphernalia which enabled him to alter his appearance from top to toe in the course of a drive .

1563

0

midnight

You 're sure ? ... Yes , of course you are ! ... Well , when Madame Mergy wakes , tell her from me that I will bring her back her son this evening , before midnight . This evening , before midnight : it 's a solemn promise . '' With these words , Lupin hurried out of the house and , stepping into his car , shouted to the driver : `` Go to Paris , Square Lamartine , Daubrecq the deputy 's ! '' Lupin 's motor-car was not only an office , a writing-room furnished with books , stationery , pens and ink , but also a regular actor 's dressing-room , containing a complete make-up box , a trunk filled with every variety of wearing-apparel , another crammed with `` properties '' -- umbrellas , walking-sticks , scarves , eye-glasses and so on -- in short , a complete set of paraphernalia which enabled him to alter his appearance from top to toe in the course of a drive . The man who rang at Daubrecq the deputy 's gate , at six o-clock that evening , was a stout , elderly gentleman , in a black frock-coat , a bowler hat , spectacles and whiskers .

1563

22

ten o’clock in the evening

Daubrecq first inspected the articles and then took Lupin to the Avenue de Neuilly , where two closely veiled old ladies stood waiting with little Jacques . Lupin carried the child to his car , where Victoire was waiting for him . All this was done swiftly , without useless words and as though the parts had been got by heart and the various movements settled in advance , like so many stage entrances and exits . At ten o'clock in the evening Lupin kept his promise and handed little Jacques to his mother . But the doctor had to be hurriedly called in , for the child , upset by all those happenings , showed great signs of excitement and terror . It was more than a fortnight before he was sufficiently recovered to bear the strain of the removal which Lupin considered necessary . Mme. Mergy herself was only just fit to travel when the time came .

1563

19

seven o’clock in the evening

he muttered . `` It 's my debt which they are making my poor old Gilbert pay . '' And the terrible tragedy went on . At seven o'clock in the evening , after a long deliberation , the jury returned to court and the foreman read out the answers to the questions put from the bench . The answer was `` Yes '' to every count of the indictment , a verdict of guilty without extenuating circumstances . The prisoners were brought in . Standing up , but staggering and white-faced , they received their sentence of death .

1563

6

six o’clock

He knew her relentless hatred of Daubrecq and appreciated the assistance which she had rendered in the case . He therefore made no difficulties about telling her what he knew , thanks to certain clues and especially to the evidence of the portress . For that matter , the thing was exceedingly simple . Daubrecq , who had attended the trial of Gilbert and Vaucheray as a witness and who was seen in court during the speeches , returned home at six o'clock . The portress affirmed that he came in alone and that there was nobody in the house at the time . Nevertheless , a few minutes later , she heard shouts , followed by the sound of a struggle and two pistol-shots ; and from her lodge she saw four masked men scuttle down the front steps , carrying Daubrecq the deputy , and hurry toward the gate . They opened the gate .

1563

0

midnight

The next day the inquiries of the police confirmed what Prasville and Lupin already knew . The Marquis d'Albufex had been very deeply involved in the business of the canal , so deeply that Prince Napoleon was obliged to remove him from the management of his political campaign in France ; and he kept up his very extravagant style of living only by dint of constant loans and makeshifts . On the other hand , in so far as concerned the kidnapping of Daubrecq , it was ascertained that , contrary to his usual custom , the marquis had not appeared in his club between six and seven that evening and had not dined at home . He did not come back until midnight ; and then he came on foot . M. Nicole 's accusation , therefore , was receiving an early proof . Unfortunately -- and Lupin was no more successful in his own attempts -- it was impossible to obtain the least clue as to the motor-car , the chauffeur and the four people who had entered Daubrecq 's house . Were they associates of the marquis , compromised in the canal affair like himself ?

1563

5

five o’clock in the morning

`` Can I go on living like this , in feverish inaction ? '' And she whispered , `` I am no longer counting the days , the thirty-eight or forty days that remain to us : I am counting the hours . '' Lupin felt that her resolution was too strong for him to try to combat it . They both started at five o'clock in the morning , by motor-car . The Growler went with them . So as not to arouse suspicion , Lupin chose a large town as his headquarters . At Amiens , where he installed Clarisse , he was only eighteen miles from Montmaur .

1563

8

eight o’clock

The Growler went with them . So as not to arouse suspicion , Lupin chose a large town as his headquarters . At Amiens , where he installed Clarisse , he was only eighteen miles from Montmaur . At eight o'clock he met the Masher not far from the old fortress , which was known in the neighbourhood by the name of Mortepierre , and he examined the locality under his guidance . On the confines of the forest , the little river Ligier , which has dug itself a deep valley at this spot , forms a loop which is overhung by the enormous cliff of Mortepierre . `` Nothing to be done on this side , '' said Lupin . `` The cliff is steep , over two hundred feet high , and the river hugs it all round . ''

1563

2

two o’clock

Sebastiani 's habits seemed to be subject solely to the duties of his post . He used to go up to the Chateau de Montmaur , walk about in the forest , note the tracks of the game and go his rounds at night . But , on the seventh day , learning that there was to be a meet and that a carriage had been sent to Aumale Station in the morning , Lupin took up his post in a cluster of box and laurels which surrounded the little esplanade in front of the gate . At two o'clock he heard the pack give tongue . They approached , accompanied by hunting-cries , and then drew farther away . He heard them again , about the middle of the afternoon , not quite so distinctly ; and that was all . But suddenly , amid the silence , the sound of galloping horses reached his ears ; and , a few minutes later , he saw two riders climbing the river-path .