nine o'clock
We only see them before we go . Never after . '' Half an hour later he encountered Monsieur le Colonel once again , and suggested that they should split a bottle of wine together if he could spare the time . It was then nine o'clock , and the three hours till midnight loomed uninviting . His only hope , as he told him , was that the train at present standing at the platform was not going to be typical of the one he was to embark on . It seemed to be of endless length , and presented a most enticing spectacle . Four fortunates in each compartment had got the racks , otherwise the passengers stood : on the footboards , in the corridors , on the seats .