eleven o'clock
In his high spirits he contrived to make the tiger move , and imitated the hiss of the terribly anaconda . All that he did had its grace , its charm ; and the buzz of admiration and the flattering glances of ladies ' eyes followed him wherever he moved . However , there was a general feeling of relief when the mayor led the way from the museum into the ballroom . In provincial parties guests arrive pretty much within the same hour , and so few who had once paid their respects to the apes and serpents , the hippopotamus and the tiger , were disposed to repeat the visit , that long before eleven o'clock the museum was as free from the intrusion of human life as the wilderness in which its dead occupants had been born . I had gone my round through the rooms , and , little disposed to be social , had crept into the retreat of a window-niche , pleased to think myself screened by its draperies , -- not that I was melancholy , far from it ; for the letter I had received that morning from Lilian had raised my whole being into a sovereignty of happiness high beyond the reach of the young pleasure-hunters , whose voices and laughter blended with that vulgar music . To read her letter again I had stolen to my nook , and now , sure that none saw me kiss it , I replaced it in my bosom . I looked through the parted curtain ; the room was comparatively empty ; but there , through the open folding-doors , I saw the gay crowd gathered round the dancers , and there again , at right angles , a vista along the corridor afforded a glimpse of the great elephant in the deserted museum .