eight o'clock
I stood petrified and reflected on my next move . Twelve o'clock ! I had eight hours ' grace before Stelze , the man of mystery and might , arrived to unmask me and hand me over to the tender mercies of Madame and of Karl . Before eight o'clock arrived I must -- so I summed up my position -- be clear of the hotel and in the train for the German frontier -- if I could get a train -- else I must be out of Rotterdam , by that hour . But I must _ act _ and act without delay . There was no knowing when that dead man lying on the floor might procure me another visit from Madame and her myrmidons . The sooner I was out of that house of death the better .