half past ten
I can hear 'em stamping out front now . I ca n't pull off any more orgies like last Monday afternoon , even if I wanted to -- but everybody 's got to have a run for their money . Say , how about Act Three ? '' Madison burned up quite a little tobacco in the interval before supper , and quite a little more afterward before the setting for his perplexing `` Third Act '' appeared to unfold itself satisfactorily before his mind -- indeed , it was close onto half past ten when , by a roundabout way , he very cautiously and silently approached the Patriarch 's cottage . In the front of the cottage , the Shrine-room , as he christened it , and the Patriarch 's sleeping room were both dark . Madison passed around to the beach side -- here , Helena 's room was dark too , but in the Flopper 's window , the end room next to the kitchen and woodshed , there was a light . The night was warm , and , though the shade was drawn , the window was open .