midnight
The three fellows who were also going in for it were all my juniors , and considerably below me in the doctor 's class ; so I had little anxiety as to the result . Need I say that this very confidence was fatal to me ? While they were working night and day , early and late , I was amusing myself with boxing - gloves and fishing-rods . While they , with wet towels round their heads , burnt the midnight oil , I sprawled over a novel in my study . Of course , now and then I took a turn at my books , and each inspection tended to satisfy me with myself better than ever . `` Those duffers will never be able to get up all that Greek in the time , '' I said to myself , `` and not one of them knows an atom of mechanics . '' Well , the time drew near .