midnight
Let me tell of the thing as I saw and heard it . My room opened upon the central gallery , and was not even on the same floor as that on which Raffles -- and I think all the other men -- were quartered . I had been put , in fact , into the dressing-room of one of the grand suites , and my too near neighbors were old Lady Melrose and my host and hostess . Now , by the Friday evening the actual festivities were at an end , and , for the first time that week , I must have been sound asleep since midnight , when all at once I found myself sitting up breathless . A heavy thud had come against my door , and now I heard hard breathing and the dull stamp of muffled feet . `` I 've got ye , '' muttered a voice . `` It 's no use struggling . ''