midnight
`` That 's my fault , gentlemen , '' said Hinge , calmly . `` They 've found the stable sentry , and he 's told 'em what has happened . He came up , sir , '' addressing himself to me , `` just as the count was climbing out o ' window . I knocked him on the ` ead of course , but they go the rounds at midnight , and they 've come across him . Not a doubt about it . '' Just as he finished speaking another gun sounded . We were between three and four miles away , but in the stillness of the night it seemed much nearer .