about twelve o'clock
`` I do detest a fireman above all men ! '' ejaculated May , emphatically , as Hal left the house to go down town and procure his equipment . Little did either of them dream what was to be the scene of his first fire . May 's too sound slumbers were disturbed about twelve o'clock that night by a confused rush of sounds , cries , shrieks , crackling beams and falling timbers . She wrapped her dressing-gown around her , and rushed to the door . Unclasping the bolts , she threw it open , but hastily closed it again , for smoke and flame rushed in , almost suffocating her . `` O , God , save me ! ''