midnight
But already the ringing voice of Zociya can be heard through the corridors and rooms : `` Get dressed , ladies , get dressed . There 's no use in sitting around ... To work ... '' After a few minutes in all the rooms of the establishment there are smells of singed hair , boric-thymol soap , cheap eau-de-cologne . The girls are dressing for the evening . The late twilight came on , and after it the warm , dark night , but for long , until very midnight , did the deep crimson glow of the sky still smoulder . Simeon , the porter of the establishment , has lit all the lamps along the walls of the drawing room , and the lustre , as well as the red lantern over the stoop . Simeon was a spare , stocky , taciturn and harsh man , with straight , broad shoulders , dark-haired , pock-marked , with little bald spots on his eye-brows and moustaches from small-pox , and with black , dull , insolent eyes . By day he was free and slept , while at night he sat without absenting himself in the front hall under the reflector , in order to help the guests with their coats and to be ready in case of any disorder .