seven p.m.
Now twenty feet away , in another room , lies Ariadne . Already there is a faint trace of colour in her cheeks , and her heart is beating more strongly . Another hour , says Dr. Higgins , and she will be restored to us ! The time is seven p.m. I did n't sleep at all last night ; I have n't slept since . For the past five hours we have been working steadily on the mystery , ever since our finding that little , red pebble in the basement . The last three hours of the time I have been treating Ariadne , using means which our discoveries indicated . And in order to keep awake I have been dictating this account to a stenographer .