midnight
Sleeping in his underwear was distasteful but this was only another small item that proved his resolute fiber and ability to accept conditions as he found them . He opened the windows and performed his usual before-retiring calisthenics , tested the reading lamp beside the bed , placed the pistol within easy reach and became absorbed in a volume of short stories . He read the book through , put out the light and was half asleep when he was roused by footsteps on the veranda below . It was close upon midnight and the presence of a prowler on the premises caused his heart to gallop wildly . He seized the pistol , crept to the window and peered cautiously out . Between the crash of the breakers he listened intently and had decided that the steps had been the illusion of a dream when a sound in the room below renewed his alarm . He gained the door in two jumps .