two o'clock
The steward scratched his hand , and gave a despairing wave of his hand , as much as to say , ` Well , well , God have mercy on him ! If only it does n't come to the mistress ' ears ! ' But the dumb man had never shown such energy as on that day ; he cleaned and scraped the whole courtyard , pulled up every single weed with his own hand , tugged up every stake in the fence of the flower-garden , to satisfy himself that they were strong enough , and unaided drove them in again ; in fact , he toiled and laboured so that even the old lady noticed his zeal . Twice in the course of the day Gerasim went stealthily in to see his prisoner when night came on , he lay down to sleep with her in the garret , not in the hay-loft , and only at two o'clock in the night he went out to take her a turn in the fresh air . After walking about the courtyard a good while with her , he was just turning back , when suddenly a rustle was heard behind the fence on the side of the back street . Mumu pricked up her ears , growled -- went up to the fence , sniffed , and gave vent to a loud shrill bark . Some drunkard had thought fit to take refuge under the fence for the night .