three o'clock in the morning
The cold , drizzling rain that began to blow across the city at ten o'clock did little toward checking the hilarity of the revellers . Honest citizens went to bed early , leaving the streets to the strangers from the hills and the river-lands . Not one dreamed of the ugly tragedy that was drawing to a climax as he slept the sleep of the just , the secure , the conscience-free . At three o'clock in the morning word flew from brothel to brothel , from lodging house to lodging house , in all parts of the slumbering city ; a thousand men crept out into the streets after the storm , all animated by one impulse , all obeying a single fierce injunction . They were to find and kill a tall American ! They were to keep him or his companion from getting in touch with the police authorities , or with the Royal Castle , no matter what the cost ! The streets were soon alive with these alert , skulking minions .