two in the
morning
All at once he heard the little clicking noise that the clock makes a minute or so before the hour . It was almost two ; he sat down upon the edge of the bed , cocking the revolver , waiting for the clock to strike . An idea came to him , and he looked at the calendar that stood at the right of the clock upon the top of the low bookcase . It was the twelfth of April , Thursday ; that , then , was to be the date of his death -- Thursday , April twelfth , at two in the morning , so it would read upon his gravestone . For an instant the awfulness of the thing he was to do came upon him , and the next instant he found himself wondering if they still coursed jack-rabbits with greyhounds down at Coronado the way they used to do when he was there . All at once the clock struck two , and at the very last instant a strange impulse to seat himself before the mirror came upon him . He drew up a chair before it , watching his reflection intently , but even as he raised the revolver he suddenly changed his purpose without knowing why , and all at once crammed the muzzle into his mouth .