midnight before
` Faith , ' says the colonel , ` I 'll tell ye -- ' '' ` Arrah , then , major , why would ye be interruptin ' the doctor , and Mr. Keningale there lettin ' his glass stay empty till he hears -- The Lord save us ! the bottle 's empty ! ' `` In the excitement consequent upon this discovery , the thread of the doctor 's story was lost ; and before it could be recovered the evening had advanced so far that I felt obliged to withdraw . It took some time to make my proposition heard and comprehended ; and a still longer time to put it in execution ; so that it was fully midnight before I found myself standing in the cool pure air outside the fort , with the farewells of my boon companions ringing in my ears . `` Considering that it had been rather a wet evening in-doors , I was in a remarkably good state of preservation , and I therefore ascribed it rather to the roughness of the road than to the smoothness of the liquor , when , after advancing a few rods , I stumbled and fell . As I picked myself up I fancied I had heard a laugh , and supposed that the lieutenant , who had accompanied me to the gate , was making merry over my mishap ; but on looking round I saw that the gate was closed and no one was visible . The laugh , moreover , had seemed to be close at hand , and to be even pitched in a key that was rather feminine than masculine .