half past six
And he looked over at the alarm clock , ticking on the chest of drawers . `` God in Heaven ! '' he thought . It was half past six and the hands were quietly moving forwards , it was even later than half past , more like quarter to seven . Had the alarm clock not rung ? He could see from the bed that it had been set for four o'clock as it should have been ; it certainly must have rung . Yes , but was it possible to quietly sleep through that furniture-rattling noise ?