midnight
Waldo was a plump , indolent young man of seven-and-twenty , whose mother had early in his life decided for him that he was unusually delicate , and by dint of much coddling and home-keeping had succeeded in making him physically soft and mentally peevish . Nine hours ' unbroken sleep , preceded by elaborate breathing exercises and other hygienic ritual , was among the indispensable regulations which Waldo imposed on himself , and there were innumerable small observances which he exacted from those who were in any way obliged to minister to his requirements ; a special teapot for the decoction of his early tea was always solemnly handed over to the bedroom staff of any house in which he happened to be staying . No one had ever quite mastered the mechanism of this precious vessel , but Bertie van Tahn was responsible for the legend that its spout had to be kept facing north during the process of infusion . On this particular night the irreducible nine hours were severely mutilated by the sudden and by no means noiseless incursion of a pyjama-clad figure into Waldo 's room at an hour midway between midnight and dawn . `` What is the matter ? What are you looking for ? '' asked the awakened and astonished Waldo , slowly recognising Van Tahn , who appeared to be searching hastily for something he had lost .