five
o'clock in the morning
However , we 'll not be buried till we 're dead , notwithstanding that we now enter upon the graveyard route . '' Doleful experience , however , confirmed the Caravaggio 's gloomy prophecy . They embarked now upon a season of one and two and three night stands that gave Bobby more of the real discomforts of life than he had ever before dreamed possible . To close a performance at eleven , to pack and hurry for a twelve-thirty train , to ride until five o'clock in the morning -- a distance too short for sleep and too long to stay awake -- to tumble into a hotel at six and sleep until noon , this was one program ; to close a performance at eleven , to wait up for a four-o'clock train , to ride until eight and get into a hotel at nine , with a vitally necessary rehearsal between that and the evening performance , was another program , either one of which wore on health and temper and purse alike . The losses now exceeded two thousand dollars a week . Moreover , the frequent visits of Biff Bates and his constant baiting of Signor Ricardo had driven that great tenor to such a point of distraction that one night , being near New York , he drew his pay and departed without notice . There was no use , in spite of Monsieur Noire 's frantic insistence , in trying to make the public believe that the lank Dulceo was the fat Ricardo ; moreover , immediately upon his arrival in New York , Signor Ricardo let it be known that he had left the Neapolitan Company , so the prestige of the company fell off at once , for the `` country '' press pays sharp attention to these things .