nearly midnight
At one time he lay in a great cleft between two hills , and stones rolled down upon him , causing him dull pain ; then the stones formed themselves into a fence -- a kind of rough arch on which other stones battered without ceasing till he was walled in thickly . At another time he had to climb up an endless hill , with hot chains about his loins and knees . Somebody came into his room with a candle , and the light awoke him . It was one of his fellow-boarders back from the theatre , with news that it was nearly midnight . He forced more hot rum on the patient , and sat with him until he was sound asleep . The liquor did its work , and he slept without dreams until daylight . He strove to rise and dress , but the task was beyond him , and there was nothing left but to lie and stare at the ceiling , and to say to himself over and over again , without a touch of interest or feeling : ` It 's good-bye to Claudia . '