nearly midnight
`` Get it for me , '' said Maurice . He looked into the public room again . The revel was far advanced now . It was nearly midnight , and only three or four of the most seasoned drinkers survived . Even they , as Maurice saw , were in no position to assert themselves , or to understand anything that was going on . A few minutes later even these veterans felt that they had had enough . Supporting each other , reeling against tables and chairs , they staggered upstairs to their beds .