twelve o'clock
He had been over at Blakely 's about midnight , he said ; had found the patient sleeping under the influence of soothing medicine , and , after a whispered word with Todd , the hospital attendant , had tiptoed out again , encountering Downs , the lieutenant 's striker , in the darkness on the rear porch . Downs said he was that excited he could n't sleep at all , and Mr. Truman had come to the conclusion that Downs 's excitement was due , in large part , to local influences totally disconnected with the affairs of the early evening . Downs was an Irishman who loved the `` craytur , '' and had been known to resort to unconventional methods of getting it . At twelve o'clock , said Mr. Truman , the striker had obviously been priming . Now Plume 's standing orders were that no liquor should be sold to Downs at the store and none to other soldiers except in `` pony '' glasses and for use on the spot . None could be carried away unconsumed . The only legitimate spirits , therefore , to which Downs could have access were those in Blakely 's locked closet -- spirits hitherto used only in the preservation of specimens , and though probably not much worse than the whisky sold at the store , disdainfully referred to by votaries as `` Blakely 's bug juice . ''