ten o'clock
He had heard the call of the blood once for all and had once for all responded to it . But the nights he had loved best . For then he slept under the stars . When ten o'clock struck he and Gaspare carried out one of the white beds onto the terrace , and he slipped into it and lay looking up at the clear sky , and at the dimness of the mountain flank , and at the still silhouettes of the trees , till sleep took him , while Gaspare , rolled up in a rug of many colors , snuggled up on the seat by the wall with his head on a cushion brought for him by the respectful Lucrezia . And they awoke at dawn to see the last star fade above the cone of Etna , and the first spears of the sun thrust up out of the stillness of the sea . `` Signorino , ecco la posta ! '' And Gaspare came running down from the terrace , the wide brim of his white linen hat flapping round his sun-browned face .