three o'clock
We were in total darkness . ` Where are the lights , Madame -- where are the people ? ' I asked , more awake than I had been . `` Tis pass three o'clock , cheaile , bote there is always light here . ' She was groping at the side ; and in a moment more lighted a lucifer match , and so a bedroom candle . We were in a flagged lobby , under an archway at the right , and at the left of which opened long flagged passages , lost in darkness ; a winding stair , barely wide enough to admit Madame , dragging her box , led upward under a doorway , in a corner at the right . ` Come , dear cheaile , take your bag ; do n't mind the rugs , they are safe enough . '