one o'clock
`` I should have made a splendid carpenter , '' the lady continued , `` for nothing pleases me more than the sound of the hammer and saw , and when you are gone I shall solace myself with fixing the entire house . I must have excitement , or die as the others did . '' `` Maude -- Mrs. Kennedy , do you know what time it is ? '' came from the foot of the stairs , and Mrs. Kennedy answered , `` It is one o'clock , I believe . '' `` Then why are you sitting up so late , and why is that lamp left burning in the parlor , with four tubes going off at once ? It 's a maxim of mine -- '' `` Spare your maxims , do . I 'm coming directly , '' and kissing the blind girl affectionately , Mrs. Kennedy went down to her liege lord , whom she found extinguishing the light , and gently shaking the lamp to see how much fluid had been uselessly wasted .