eleven o'clock
At last , I found the staircase . But , suddenly I drew myself up on the first step , for a terrible thought had come to my mind : `` What is the time ? '' Ah , what was the time ? ... For , after all , eleven o'clock to-morrow evening might be now , might be this very moment ! Who could tell us the time ? We seemed to have been imprisoned in that hell for days and days ... for years ... since the beginning of the world . Perhaps we should be blown up then and there !