two o'clock before
But I must try to get a few hours ' sleep , as Van Helsing is to call for me at noon . He insists that I shall go with him on another expedition . * * * * * _ 27 September . _ -- It was two o'clock before we found a suitable opportunity for our attempt . The funeral held at noon was all completed , and the last stragglers of the mourners had taken themselves lazily away , when , looking carefully from behind a clump of alder-trees , we saw the sexton lock the gate after him . We knew then that we were safe till morning did we desire it ; but the Professor told me that we should not want more than an hour at most . Again I felt that horrid sense of the reality of things , in which any effort of imagination seemed out of place ; and I realised distinctly the perils of the law which we were incurring in our unhallowed work .