four o’clock in the morning
But even that did not enliven him : it seemed slow somehow ; so he gave chess up and tried to read . He did not seem able to take any sort of interest in reading either , so he put on his coat again and went out for a walk . It was horribly lonesome and dismal , and all the policemen he met regarded him with undisguised suspicion , and turned their lanterns on him and followed him about , and this had such an effect upon him at last that he began to feel as if he really had done something , and he got to slinking down the by-streets and hiding in dark doorways when he heard the regulation flip-flop approaching . Of course , this conduct made the force only more distrustful of him than ever , and they would come and rout him out and ask him what he was doing there ; and when he answered , `` Nothing , '' he had merely come out for a stroll -LRB- it was then four o'clock in the morning -RRB- , they looked as though they did not believe him , and two plain-clothes constables came home with him to see if he really did live where he had said he did . They saw him go in with his key , and then they took up a position opposite and watched the house . He thought he would light the fire when he got inside , and make himself some breakfast , just to pass away the time ; but he did not seem able to handle anything from a scuttleful of coals to a teaspoon without dropping it or falling over it , and making such a noise that he was in mortal fear that it would wake Mrs. G. up , and that she would think it was burglars and open the window and call `` Police ! '' and then these two detectives would rush in and handcuff him , and march him off to the police-court .