midnight
Our party was carefully selected , a lot of choice spirits , and yet there was one with a sad and unpardonable weakness -- he always snored a dreadful snore as soon as he fell asleep . That is why he was usually put in a tent by himself , and sent to sleep with a twenty-five foot deadening space between him and us of gentler somnolence . He had been bad the night before , and now , by request , was sleeping _ fifty _ feet away . But what is fifty feet of midnight silence to a forty-inch chest and a pair of tuneful nostrils . About 2 A.M. I was awakened as before , but worse than ever , by the most terrific , measured snorts , and so loud that they seemed just next me . Sitting up , I bawled in wrath , `` Oh , Jack , shut up , and let some one else have a chance to sleep . '' The answer was a louder snort , a crashing of brush and a silence that , so far as I know , continued until sunrise .