about midnight
Who could say ? -- the factory might take fire in the night . And he repeated sententiously : `` The eye of the master , my dear fellow , the eye of the master , '' while the actor -- who was little better pleased by this intended departure -- opened his great eyes ; giving them an expression at once cunning and authoritative , the veritable expression of the eye of the master . At last , about midnight , the last Montrouge omnibus bore away the tyrannical father-in-law , and Delobelle was able to speak . `` Let us first look at the prospectus , '' he said , preferring not to attack the question of figures at once ; and with his eyeglasses on his nose , he began , in a declamatory tone , always upon the stage : `` When one considers coolly the decrepitude which dramatic art has reached in France , when one measures the distance that separates the stage of Moliere -- '' There were several pages like that . Risler listened , puffing at his pipe , afraid to stir , for the reader looked at him every moment over his eyeglasses , to watch the effect of his phrases . Unfortunately , right in the middle of the prospectus , the cafe closed .