fifteen minutes past twelve
He won , and continued to win until night ; when candles were brought , and they commenced again . By ten o'clock Sir Asinus had won fifteen thousand pistoles from the Governor . By midnight Fauquier , playing with the nerve of a great gambler , had won them all back -- laughing , careless , but not more careless than when he lost . At fifteen minutes past twelve he had won a bond for two hundred pistoles from Sir Asinus ; at sixteen minutes past twelve his Excellency rose , and taking the cards up with both hands , threw them out of the window . Then rolling up the bond which Sir Asinus had executed a moment before , he gracefully lit with it a pipe which he had just filled ; and , first telling a servant `` to carry lights to the chamber next to his own , '' said to Sir Asinus : `` My dear boy , I have done wrong to-night ; but this is my master passion . Cards have ruined me three distinct times ; and if you play you will inevitably follow my example and destroy your prospects . Take my advice , and never touch them .