two o'clock in the
morning
For a time the true state of affairs was hidden from the eye of Grindley senior . To `` slack '' it this term , with the full determination of `` swotting '' it the next , is always easy ; the difficulty beginning only with the new term . Possibly with luck young Grindley might have retrieved his position and covered up the traces of his folly , but for an unfortunate accident . Returning to college with some other choice spirits at two o'clock in the morning , it occurred to young Grindley that trouble might be saved all round by cutting out a pane of glass with a diamond ring and entering his rooms , which were on the ground-floor , by the window . That , in mistake for his own , he should have selected the bedroom of the College Rector was a misfortune that might have occurred to anyone who had commenced the evening on champagne and finished it on whisky . Young Grindley , having been warned already twice before , was `` sent down . '' And then , of course , the whole history of the three wasted years came out .