three o'clock
`` Surely , '' I said , `` it is not by Toddy -- I mean Dr. Todhunter MacWhister 's advice that you keep these hours . The clocks are striking two ! '' `` Ah , my friend , '' he replied wearily , in his precise and rather elaborate English , `` ill or well , I must live as I have been accustomed to live . For twenty years I have gone to bed promptly at three o'clock and risen at eleven o'clock . Must I change because of a broken thigh ? In an hour 's time , and not before , my people will carry this couch and its burden to my bedroom . Then I shall pretend to sleep ; but I shall not sleep .