midnight
* * * * * In the _ patio _ of Roddy 's house Peter was reclining in a steamer-chair . At his elbow was a long drink , and between his fingers a long cigar . Opposite him , in another chair , was stretched young Vicenti . At midnight , on his way home from visiting a patient , the doctor , seeing a light in the court-yard of Roddy 's house , had clamored for admittance . To Peter the visit was most ill-timed . Roddy had now been absent for four hours , and the imagination of his friend was greatly disturbed . He knew for what purpose Roddy had set forth , and he pictured him pierced with a bullet as he climbed the garden wall , or a prisoner behind the bars of the _ cartel _ .