nine o'clock
And , ere I could make any further remark , or put any other question , she hurried out of the apartment , hastily opened the street door , rushed out , and disappeared . Interrupting this personal narrative for a time , we will shift the scene , on the eventful night in question -- eventful , at least , to the unfortunate subject of our story -- to the house of the jailer in whose custody he was ; and here we shall find , in the capacity of a domestic servant , a young woman , bearing a very striking resemblance to her who visited M'Intyre 's friend , as above described . Indeed , there can be no doubt that they are the same . It was the jailer 's custom , at this time , to make the rounds of the prison precisely at nine o'clock every night , to see that all was secure ; and when this survey was completed , to carry all the keys with him to his own house , which was included in the general building , and had interior communication with that portion of it where prisoners were confined . On bringing up the keys , as usual , on the night of which we are speaking , the jailer gave them in charge to his wife , as he was invited out to join a party of friends on some occasion of merry-making -- a circumstance which had been previously known to his family , and , amongst the rest , to the servant girl a short while since alluded to . Having received the keys from her husband , the jailer 's wife carried them to her own bedroom for greater safety , and there deposited them in a drawer . In less than two hours after , this drawer was secretly visited by the young woman just spoken of , and a particular key carefully selected , detached from the rest , and transferred from the drawer in which it had lain into her pocket , when she withdrew with her prize .