eight o’clock in the evening
Perhaps the document read backward , and the last letter was really the first , for the author would have done this had he wished to make the reading more difficult . Nothing ! The new combination only furnished a series of letters just as enigmatic . At eight o'clock in the evening Jarriquez , with his face in his hands , knocked up , worn out mentally and physically , had neither strength to move , to speak , to think , or to associate one idea with another . Suddenly a noise was heard outside . Almost immediately , notwithstanding his formal orders , the door of his study was thrown open . Benito and Manoel were before him , Benito looking dreadfully pale , and Manoel supporting him , for the unfortunate young man had hardly strength to support himself .