midnight
-- and I knocked at Fritze 's , the necktie maker 's , whose door was opposite ours , and said : ` Oh , please , ' I said , ` send your little one as quickly as you can to Frau Wadlern , 10 , Spittelmarkt , she knows all about it ' -- oh dear , how bad I felt . And I fell down on the nearest chair ; they had the greatest difficulty to get me home again . And now it began , I could not control myself however much I tried ; I believe they heard me scream three houses off . And it lasted , it lasted -- evening came on -- you came home -- it was midnight -- five , six , seven in the morning -- then at last at nine o'clock Frau Wadlern said : ` The child , it 'll soon be -- ' '' `` That 's enough now , mother , '' interrupted the man , glancing sideways at the children , who were sitting very quietly round the table listening , with wide-open , inquisitive eyes . `` All that 's over long ago , the girl 's here , and has been a credit to you so far . '' `` She was born at eleven sharp , '' said Frau Lämke dreamily , nodding her head at the same time and then drawing a deep breath as if she had climbed a high mountain . And then , overwhelmed by the pain and pleasure of a memory that was still so extremely vivid after the lapse of ten years , she called her daughter , her first-born , to come to her on this her tenth birthday .