midnight
For , to say nothing of the darkness , there was one reassuring fact which recurred constantly to my mind in connection with the murders I was endeavouring to trace to this den of iniquity . None of the gentlemen who had been found drowned had shown any marks of violence on their bodies , so it was not attack I was to fear , but some mysterious , underhanded treachery which would rob me of consciousness and make the precipitation of my body into the water both safe and easy . Perhaps it was in the bottle of brandy that the peril lay ; perhaps -- but why speculate further ! I would watch till midnight and then , if nothing happened , signal my companions to raid the house . Meantime a peep into the next room might help me towards solving the mystery . Setting the bottle and glass aside , I dragged the table across the floor , placed it under the lighted window , mounted , and was about to peer through , when the light in that apartment was put out also . Angry and overwhelmed , I leaped down , and , stretching out my hands till they touched the wainscoting , I followed the wall around till I came to the knob of the door , which I frantically clutched .