ten o'clock
`` What do you say to just another drop , Jacob ? '' `` Well , it must be a little one . '' The host was of opinion that they might take just enough for a nightcap , and so went after the hot water . It was now past ten o'clock , and as Worse had permission to stay till eleven , his conscience was perfectly clear . As he warmed up under the influence of Randulf 's old Jamaica rum , he forgot both his internal malady and his anxieties for his soul . At the third tumbler , Randulf proposed that they should talk English , which they proceeded to do with much gravity , but after their own fashion . The last rays of the sun from behind the cloud banks , caused by the north wind , made the faces of the two friends look redder than ever , as they sat at the open window and talked their English .