midnight
Did n't see such goings-on under Monsieur Robert Lindet . I know , for I served my apprenticeship under Robert Lindet . The clerks had to work in his day ! You ought to have seen how they scratched paper here till midnight ; why , the stoves went out and nobody noticed it . It was all because the guillotine was there ! now-a-days they only mark ` em when they come in late ! '' `` Uncle Antoine , '' said Gabriel , `` as you are so talkative this morning , just tell us what you think a clerk really ought to be . ''