about ten o’clock
At this same moment the diamond plumes of the fountain invariably fell , and disappeared , not to wave again until the morning sun was up . I was always sorry when the fountain died , for it was the sole companion of my captivity , my one dim pleasure watching its nymph-like play . And to-night the dead silence of the _ patio _ seemed the lull before my own death . It must have been , I thought , somewhere about ten o'clock when I heard a new sound in the court , slight , elusive , but distinct . Chink -- chink -- like metal on stone , as if a troll were mining underground . The old man was taking time by the forelock , I said grimly to myself , getting ready a place in some cellar to lay me away when I should be finished . I should last some days yet ; but it took time to do these things well .