six o'clock
He understood afterwards why the inmates were allowed to lie in bed so long : it was convenient for the warders . The prisoners rose at six , and went to bed again at six , in the full sunshine of those June afternoons . Thus disposed of , the warders could relax their vigilance and enjoy some hours of rest . The effect , moralising or the reverse , on the prisoners , who could by no means get themselves off to sleep at six o'clock , was of the supremest indifference to everyone concerned . Axel , not yet having been tried , and not yet therefore having been placed in the common dormitory , was not forced into bed at any particular time . He might enjoy evenings as long as those of the warders if he chose , and he might get up as early as though his horse were waiting below to take him to his hay-fields if he liked ; but this privilege , without the means of employing the extra hours , was valueless . He watched anxiously for the broad daylight that would bring his lawyer and put an end to this first martyrdom of helpless waiting .