midnight
He had all the seeming of having been purged by fire . Daylight had the feeling that a healthy man-oath would be a deadly offence to his ears , a sacrilege and a blasphemy . They drank -- that is , Nathaniel Letton took mineral water served by the smoothly operating machine of a lackey who inhabited the place , while Dowsett took Scotch and soda and Daylight a cocktail . Nobody seemed to notice the unusualness of a Martini at midnight , though Daylight looked sharply for that very thing ; for he had long since learned that Martinis had their strictly appointed times and places . But he liked Martinis , and , being a natural man , he chose deliberately to drink when and how he pleased . Others had noticed this peculiar habit of his , but not so Dowsett and Letton ; and Daylight 's secret thought was : `` They sure would n't bat an eye if I called for a glass of corrosive sublimate . '' Leon Guggenhammer arrived in the midst of the drink , and ordered Scotch .