one o'clock
How fortunate it was that it was no bigger , and that he could carry it comfortably on his shoulder ! He used to awake every night when the old clock in the passage struck the hour of midnight . What had become of his blessed sleep ? To-night he would wake as usual , and then he would lie with open eyes and listen -- one o'clock , two o'clock -- and when everybody was lying in that deep , sound sleep which comes in the early hours of the morning , he would quietly put on the rest of his clothes -- he would not undress himself entirely -- and steal out of the room in his socks with his boots in his hand and his box on his shoulder . Softly , very softly . But that would hardly be necessary , for Mikolai always slept soundly , and there was nobody else downstairs except Mr. Tiralla , and he no longer counted , of course . So he could easily get away , for the key was in the front door and the farm gate was quickly opened .