midnight
said Julius . `` I told her I was goin ' to a party , and she need n't expect me home till mornin ' . '' `` Well , the party 's broke up , and you 'd better be going , '' returned the other , good-naturedly . Meanwhile let us go back to Marlowe , whom we left hurrying home a little past midnight , intent upon wreaking his vengeance on Julius for his treachery . Had he found the boy it would have gone hard with him . The ruffianly instinct of the burglar was predominant , and he might have killed him in the intensity of his blind rage . But the foresight and prudent caution of Julius defeated his wrathful purpose , and when he reached the shabby room which he called home his intended victim had escaped .