two in the morning of the twenty-ninth of
February
Suppose he has _ not _ got the almanac -- what then ? '' `` In that case , '' pursued the surgeon , `` Francis Raven is innocent of all suspicion that there is a twenty-ninth day in February this year . As a necessary consequence -- what will he do ? He will anticipate the appearance of the Woman with the Knife , at two in the morning of the twenty-ninth of February , instead of the first of March . Let him suffer all his superstitious terrors on the wrong day . Leave him , on the day that is really his birthday , to pass a perfectly quiet night , and to be as sound asleep as other people at two in the morning . And then , when he wakes comfortably in time for his breakfast , shame him out of his delusion by telling him the truth . ''