about eleven o'clock
They passed a pleasant evening , and saw the female acrobat negotiate a thirty-feet jump , head downward , taken through space by the automobile . Then they elected to walk to No. 3 . Basin , a distance of a mile and a half . It was about eleven o'clock and a fine night . The docks road , a thoroughfare cut up by railway lines holding long rows of empty wagons , seemed to be quite deserted . Tagg , who was slightly lame , though active as a cat on board ship , was not able to walk fast . The two discussed the performance , and other matters of slight interest , and they paid little heed to the movements of half a dozen men , who appeared from behind some coal trucks , until the strangers advanced towards them in a furtive and threatening way .