four in the
morning
Was there ever such a fool as he ? Well , well , to think he could fling his purse on the fire ! What a horrid thought ! Metallurgy was a science quite unknown to Roger ; he only considered gold as heavy as lead , and therefore probably as fusible : so down he bustled , made another hole , a deeper one too this time , in the floor under the dresser , where , exhausted with his toil and care , he deposited the crock by four in the morning -- and so retired once more . All in vain -- nobody ever knew when Black Burke might be returning from his sporting expeditions -- and that beast of a lurcher would be sure to be creeping in this morning , and would scratch it up , and his brute of a master would get it all ! This fancy was the worst possible : and Roger rose again , quite sick at heart , pale , worn , and trembling with a miser 's haggard joys . Where should he hide that crock -- the epithet `` cursed '' crock escaped him this time in his vexed impatience .