about
midnight
He went over to the store and bought the sloppiest suit of reach-me-downs of glossiest black , and the stiffest and stickiest white shirt they had to show -- also four bone studs , two for the collar and two for the cuffs . Then he gave his worn `` larstins '' to the stable-boy -LRB- with half a crown -RRB- to clean , and -- proceeded . He put the boots on during the day , one at a time between drinks , gassing all the time , and continued . He concluded about midnight , after a very noisy time and interviews with everyone on sight -LRB- slightly interrupted by drinks -RRB- concerning `` his room . '' It was show time , you see , and all the rooms were as full as he was -- he was too full even to share the parlour or billiard room with others ; but he consented at last to a shake-down on the balcony , the barmaid volunteering to spread the couch with her own fair hands . Towards daylight he woke , for one of the reasons why men do wake . It is well known , to people who know , that old campers-out -LRB- and young men new to it , too -RRB- will wake _ once _ -- if in a party , each at different times -- to tend to their cattle , or listen for the hobbles of their horses , or simply to rise on their elbows and have a look round -- the last , I suppose , from an instinct born in old dangerous times .