twelve o'clock
There came a tap at the door -- the chambermaid to do up the room . She had been there once already , but seeing him asleep , she had forborne to wake him . Apparently the spectacle of a gentleman lying on the bed fully dressed , even to his boots , was not an unusual one at that hotel , for she made no comment . It was twelve o'clock , but she would come again later . He was bewildered . He had slept the round of the clock -- that was natural after his fatigue -- but where was his benefactor ? The lateness of the time forbade the conclusion that he had merely slept elsewhere ; he would assuredly have returned by this time to claim his portmanteau .