about nine o’clock
Then the dark fell , and silence . Thank God it was a black night . The moon was well on its last quarter and would not rise till late . My thirst was too great to allow me to tarry , so about nine o'clock , so far as I could judge , I started to descend . It was n't easy , and half-way down I heard the back door of the house open , and saw the gleam of a lantern against the mill wall . For some agonizing minutes I hung by the ivy and prayed that whoever it was would not come round by the dovecot . Then the light disappeared , and I dropped as softly as I could on to the hard soil of the yard .