about five o'clock
said Miss Shute , crawling from under the table ; `` the room over this is the one that had the candle in it . '' We sat for a time in awful stillness , but nothing further happened , save a distant shriek overhead , that told the cockatoo had sought and found sanctuary in his owner 's room . We had tea _ sotto voce _ , and then , one by one , despite the amazing discomfort of the drawing-room chairs , we dozed off to sleep . It was at about five o'clock that I woke with a stiff neck and an uneasy remembrance that I had last seen Maria in the kitchen . The others , looking , each of them , about twenty years older than their age , slept in various attitudes of exhaustion . Bernard opened his eyes as I stole forth to look for Maria , but none of the ladies awoke . I went down the evil-smelling passage that led to the kitchen stairs , and , there on a mat , regarding me with intelligent affection , was Maria ; but what -- oh what was the white thing that lay between her forepaws ?