three o'clock in the morning
That story has never yet been fitly told , but it will furnish a splendid epic one of these days for a great historian . It came like a beneficent earthquake , with toil and trouble and turmoil enough , and it stirred up all Europe , and shook down many unjust forms of government . To my mind it is the happiest and most beautiful event in the modern history of Europe , for the revolution , though it was effected with the sternest purpose and the most unflinching heroism , was marked by none of the excesses of revenge and hatred which have disfigured so many popular risings against tyranny . I had been hard at work until three o'clock in the morning , had gone to bed dead tired , and had slept like a log until ten , when Hinge came in with a cup of steaming coffee , and began with his usual silent dexterity to lay out my clothes . I paid no especial heed to him at first , but by-and-by I caught sight of his face reflected in the mirror which decorated my skimpy wardrobe , and I could see at once that he was beaming with self-congratulation . He was one of the most faithful and constant fellows in the world , but as a general thing he was a little saturnine in temper . Any outward display of cheerfulness was rare with him , and such an outward sign of inward exultation as I read this morning was a downright astonishment .