about eight in the evening
The answer was that nobody could of course prevent my being away , but that it was not usual for a clerk to be absent merely because his wife was not well . The brute added with a sneer that a wife was `` a luxury '' which he should have thought I could hardly afford . We divided between us , however , at home the twenty-four hours during which we stood sentinels against death , and occasionally we were relieved by one or two friends . I went on duty from about eight in the evening till one in the morning , and was then relieved by Mrs. Taylor , who remained till ten or eleven . She then went to bed , and was replaced by little Marie . What a change came over that child ! I was amazed at her .