a quarter after ten o'clock
And -- a slight shudder thrilled through him as the thought obtruded itself upon his mind -- for aught that he could tell to the contrary one of those precautions might take the form of providing that he should never return to the light of day , and that no one should ever know what had become of him ! But here again the optimism of youth came to support him , and he dismissed the grim reflection with a smile ; the matter , of course , could not be anything like so serious as that , he told himself , and without doubt in an hour or two hence he would be back in the palace , heartily laughing at the whole adventure . He drew forth his watch and looked at it . To his astonishment he found that it was a quarter after ten o'clock -- for , his place of confinement being below the ground level , and hewn out of the heart of the rock , there were no windows to it , and the only source of light was the lamp suspended from the roof , which still burned brightly . For an instant he was under the impression that his watch had stopped overnight at the hour indicated , but upon putting it to his ear he found that it was still running . Then his eye felt upon the viands on the table , and he suddenly discovered that he was hungry . Without further ado , therefore , he seated himself at the table , and , dismissing for the moment all further considerations of the future , fell to and made a most excellent breakfast .