an hour
after midnight
I knew , on the other hand , that if once the statement I had made reached the intelligence of any one Italian patriot , the news would spread like wildfire , and that , if I needed them , a hundred men would be at my disposal to check the treason meditated by Roncivalli and Brunow . In each epistle I besought the receiver to follow me without delay to Southampton , and I undertook to wire to each the address at which I might be found , and begged him , in case he should follow immediately , to make arrangements to have that address rewired . All this being done , I sat down and wrote out a fuller statement of the case for Violet 's reading , if ever I should again be so happy as to find the chance of placing it in her hands . This occupied me until an hour after midnight . I went to bed , leaving with Hinge the responsibility of awaking me in time for the first train next morning to Southampton . When we reached the railway station I caught a glimpse of Roncivalli and Brunow and the baroness ; but this was no more than I had expected , and it cost me but little trouble to evade them . We reached Southampton without adventure , and I kept my place in the railway carriage until Hinge reported to me that they had left the platform .