nine o'clock in the evening
Two at the outside -- as you value your life -- and mine ! '' I remember my abject obedience ; and the endless , sleepless night it gave me ; and the roofs of the houses opposite standing out at last against the blue-gray London dawn . I wondered whether I should ever see another , and was very hard on myself for that little expedition which I had made on my own wilful account . It was between eight and nine o'clock in the evening when we took up our position in the garden adjoining that of Reuben Rosenthall ; the house itself was shut up , thanks to the outrageous libertine next door , who , by driving away the neighbors , had gone far towards delivering himself into our hands . Practically secure from surprise on that side , we could watch our house under cover of a wall just high enough to see over , while a fair margin of shrubs in either garden afforded us additional protection . Thus entrenched , we had stood an hour , watching a pair of lighted bow-windows with vague shadows flitting continually across the blinds , and listening to the drawing of corks , the clink of glasses , and a gradual crescendo of coarse voices within . Our luck seemed to have deserted us : the owner of the purple diamonds was dining at home and dining at undue length .