three in the
morning
The waiters ran to and fro ceaselessly , their faces dripping with perspiration and their throats hoarse with shouting . The musicians fiddled as though the end of all things was at hand and must not surprise them at a broken bar . In Russia the scene was familiar enough , but to the stranger incomprehensible and revolting . Alban felt as one released from a pit of gluttony when at three in the morning Sergius staggered to his feet and bade a servant call him in a drosky . `` We have much to do to-morrow , '' he muttered , `` much to do -- and then , ah , my friend , if we only knew what we meant when we say ` and then . ' '' A glimmer of wan daylight in the Count 's bedroom troubled him while he undressed and he drew the curtains with angry fingers . Down there in the dismal streets the Cossacks watched the night-birds going home to bed and envied them alike their condition and its consequences .