seventeen
minutes past eight
You shall hear how each woman and each man was slain . Look at this mattress upholstered in satin -- there lies the unsleeping thing that brings sleep so quickly to others ! I guessed it this morning ; I proved it to-night . At seventeen minutes past eight Prince was dead ; but not until I awoke , near two o'clock , did I dare approach him . For how did he die ? The moment the heat of his ancient body penetrated the mattress under him , it released its awful venom . He stretched himself , curled up again , and , as the exhalation rose , with scarcely a tremor he passed from sleep into death .