a quarter to one
He cautiously drew aside one corner of it , waited , looked , and took courage at last to draw the whole handkerchief through the wires of the grating . After first hiding it in his pocket , he thought of the consequences if it was found on him , and threw it down in a corner of the room . He trembled when he had cast it from him , as he looked at his watch and placed himself again at the grating to wait for Miss Gwilt . It was a quarter to one . The moon had come round from the side to the front of the Sanitarium . From time to time her light gleamed on the window of the corridor when the gaps in the flying clouds let it through . The wind had risen , and sung its mournful song faintly , as it swept at intervals over the desert ground in front of the house .