one o'clock
before
The affair certainly looked altogether different now I was upon the ground , although I could figure out no possible object those men could have . At least they could accomplish nothing without my cooperation , and , if I discovered any evil afoot , I could block them instantly . I was there to save this property for the rightful heir , and was determined now to see that Philip Henley received all that was due him . It was after one o'clock before I fell into a drowsy sleep . Indeed , it hardly seemed to me that I had entirely lost consciousness , when I was jerked bolt upright by the sharp report of a firearm . For a single instant I imagined the shot fired within my room ; then I sprang to the door , and flung it open , peering out into the hall . Everything was still , the rays from my lamp barely extending to the head of the stairs .