about midnight
I had tried every method known to the resourceful flat-dweller of modern times to get cool and to stay so , but alas , it was impossible . Even the radiators , which all winter long had never once given forth a spark of heat , now hissed to the touch of my moistened finger . Enough cooling drinks to float an ocean greyhound had passed into my inner man , with no other result than to make me perspire more profusely than ever , and in so far as sensations went , to make me feel hotter than before . Finally , as a last resource , along about midnight , its gridiron floor having had a chance to lose some of its stored-up warmth , I climbed out upon the fire-escape at the rear of the Richmere , hitched my hammock from one of the railings thereof to the leader running from the roof to the area , and swung myself therein some eighty feet above the concealed pavement of our backyard -- so called , perhaps , because of its dimensions which were just about that square . It was a little improvement , though nothing to brag of . What fitful zephyrs there might be , caused no doubt by the rapid passage to and fro on the roof above and fence-tops below of vagrant felines on Cupid 's contentious battles bent , to the disturbance of the still air , soughed softly through the meshes of my hammock and gave some measure of relief , grateful enough for which I ceased the perfervid language I had been using practically since sunrise , and dozed off . And then there entered upon the scene that marvelous man , Raffles Holmes , of whose exploits it is the purpose of these papers to tell .