two o'clock
Thousands , most of whom were actuated by mere curiosity , wished to view the diamonds . We were compelled to discriminate , and sometimes discriminated against the wrong person , which caused unpleasantness . Three distinct attempts were made to rob the safe , but luckily these criminal efforts were frustrated , and so we came unscathed to the eventful thirteenth of the month . The sale was to begin at two o'clock , and on the morning of that day I took the somewhat tyrannical precaution of having the more dangerous of our own malefactors , and as many of the foreign thieves as I could trump up charges against , laid by the heels , yet I knew very well it was not these rascals I had most to fear , but the suave , well-groomed gentlemen , amply supplied with unimpeachable credentials , stopping at our fine hotels and living like princes . Many of these were foreigners against whom we could prove nothing , and whose arrest might land us into temporary international difficulties . Nevertheless , I had each of them shadowed , and on the morning of the thirteenth if one of them had even disputed a cab fare I should have had him in prison half an hour later , and taken the consequences , but these gentlemen are very shrewd and do not commit mistakes . I made up a list of all the men in the world who were able or likely to purchase the necklace .