about three o'clock in the morning
Yet it would be well to shoot the bolt in yonder door when one is in strange quarters . So ! '' He threw himself down upon his pallet and in an instant was fast asleep . It might have been about three o'clock in the morning when Alleyne was aroused from a troubled sleep by a low cry or exclamation . He listened , but , as he heard no more , he set it down as the challenge of the guard upon the walls , and dropped off to sleep once more . A few minutes later he was disturbed by a gentle creaking of his own door , as though some one were pushing cautiously against it , and immediately afterwards he heard the soft thud of cautious footsteps upon the stair which led to the room above , followed by a confused noise and a muffled groan . Alleyne sat up on his couch with all his nerves in a tingle , uncertain whether these sounds might come from a simple cause -- some sick archer and visiting leech perhaps -- or whether they might have a more sinister meaning .