eight o’clock
I will relinquish the last remnant of pride , if only my sisters can be saved . '' He vowed it with uplifted arms , and hurried out onto the heath . For wellnigh three hours he struggled along the snowed-up roads . It might have been eight o'clock when he stopped , tired and breathless , before the gates of Lotkeim . `` To-day they shall not escape me , '' he said , and as he found the gate locked again , he lay down and crept through underneath the fence , as he had seen dogs do . The windows of the manor-house were brightly lighted up , but as the curtains had been let down , nothing could be seen of the room inside ; only snatches of song and laughter floated out into the open air . The house door stood open .