midnight
Her lip still held prisoner , Gertie tossed the brush on the bureau , fastened her nightgown at the throat with a safety pin , turned out the gas and crawled into bed . Perhaps the hard bun at the back of her head kept her awake . She lay there with her eyes wide open and sleepless , staring into the darkness . At midnight the Kid Next Door came in whistling , like one unused to boarding-house rules . Gertie liked him for that . At the head of the stairs he stopped whistling and came softly into his own third floor back just next to Gertie 's . Gertie liked him for that , too .