about two o'clock
At this moment the heavy beat of the storm on the roof ceased with miraculous suddenness , leaving the outside world empty of sound save for the DRIP , DRIP , DRIP of eaves . Nobody ventured to fill in the pause that followed the stranger 's last words , so in a moment he continued his narrative . We had every sort of people with us off and on , and , as I was lookout at a popular game , I saw them all . One evening I was on my way home about two o'clock of a moonlit night , when on the edge of the shadow I stumbled over a body lying part across the footway . At the same instant I heard the rip of steel through cloth and felt a sharp stab in my left leg . For a minute I thought some drunk had used his knife on me , and I mighty near derringered him as he lay . But somehow I did n't , and looking closer , I saw the man was unconscious .