three o’clock
At length she reached the bottom of the stairs and began the more difficult descent into the utter darkness of the basement . Here , however , she could move more freely , as there was less danger of being overheard ; and without much delay she contrived to unlock the iron door leading into the yard . A gust of cold wind smote her as she stepped out and groped shiveringly under the clothes-lines . That morning at three o'clock an alarm of fire brought the engines to Mrs. Black 's door , and also brought Mrs. Sampson 's startled boarders to their windows . The wooden balcony at the back of Mrs. Black 's house was ablaze , and among those who watched the progress of the flames was Mrs. Manstey , leaning in her thin dressing-gown from the open window . The fire , however , was soon put out , and the frightened occupants of the house , who had fled in scant attire , reassembled at dawn to find that little mischief had been done beyond the cracking of window panes and smoking of ceilings . In fact , the chief sufferer by the fire was Mrs. Manstey , who was found in the morning gasping with pneumonia , a not unnatural result , as everyone remarked , of her having hung out of an open window at her age in a dressing-gown .