one o'clock
there 's Pere Achille putting out his gas . -- I must go in . Good-night . '' It was after one o'clock when the actor returned home . The two women were waiting for him , working as usual , but with a sort of feverish activity which was strange to them . Every moment the great scissors that Mamma Delobelle used to cut the brass wire were seized with strange fits of trembling , and Desiree 's little fingers , as she mounted an insect , moved so fast that it made one dizzy to watch them . Even the long feathers of the little birds scattered about on the table before her seemed more brilliant , more richly colored , than on other days .