midnight
`` We 'll talk in the open air , '' the doctor answered , and ringing the bell for the steward to clear away , he drew his companion out to the deserted decks . They moved toward the bows , past the sleeping peasants . The stars were mirrored in a glassy sea and toward the north the hills of Corsica stood faintly outlined in the sky . It was already long after midnight . `` Yes , a similar thing nearly happened to me , '' he resumed as they settled themselves against a coil of rope where only the murmur of the washing sea could reach them , `` and might have happened to others too . Inmates of that big _ Krankenhaus _ were variously affected . My action , tardy I must admit , saved myself and them . ''