six o'clock
On the next morning , however , another letter -- a rather massive one -- reached me . The covering was directed in the writing of Zaleski , but on it he had scribbled the words : ` This need not be opened unless I fail to reappear before Saturday . ' I therefore laid the packet aside unread . I waited all through Friday , resolved that at six o'clock , if nothing happened , I should make some sort of effort . But from six I remained , with eyes strained towards the doorway , until ten . I was so utterly at a loss , my ingenuity was so entirely baffled by the situation , that I could devise no course of action which did not immediately appear absurd . But at midnight I sprang up -- no longer would I endure the carking suspense .