eleven o'clock
He threw his baton at Milton and followed it up with his violin case , at which Milton deemed it time to retreat . He grabbed his hat and overcoat and dashed wildly through the ranks of the thirty-nine performers toward the front of the platform . Thence he leaped to the ballroom floor , and two minutes later he was safely on the sidewalk with nothing to hinder his exit save a glancing kick from Ferdy Rothman . It was precisely eleven o'clock , the very shank of the evening , and Milton fairly shuddered at the idea of going home , but what was he to do ? His credit at all of the pool parlours had been strained to the utmost and he was absolutely penniless . For two minutes he surveyed the empty street and , with a stretch and a yawn , he started off home . Ten minutes later Mrs. Zwiebel recognized with a leaping heart his footsteps on the areaway .