midnight
It was December weather at that time ; but his hardy constitution rendered him as impervious to cold as a young Polar bear . Having smoked quietly for half an hour , he listened at his door till the silence in Mr. Thorpe 's dressing-room below assured him that his father was safe in bed , and invited him to descend on tiptoe -- with his boots under his arm -- into the hall . Here he placed his candle , with a box of matches by it , on a chair , and proceeded to open the house door with the noiseless dexterity of a practiced burglar -- being always careful to facilitate the safe performance of this dangerous operation by keeping lock , bolt , and hinges well oiled . Having secured the key , blown out the candle , and noiselessly closed the door behind him , he left the house , and started for the Haymarket , Covent Garden , or the Strand , a little before midnight -- or , in other words , set forth on a nocturnal tour of amusement , just at the time when the doors of respectable places of public recreation -LRB- which his father prevented him from attending -RRB- were all closed , and the doors of disreputable places all thrown open . One precaution , and one only , did Zack observe while enjoying the dangerous diversions into which paternal prohibitions , assisted by filial perversity , now thrust him headlong , He took care to keep sober enough to be sure of getting home before the servants had risen , and to be certain of preserving his steadiness of hand and stealthiness of foot , while bolting the door and stealing up stairs for an hour or two of bed . Knowledge of his own perilous weakness of brain , as a drinker , rendered him thus uncharacteristically temperate and self-restrained , so far as indulgence in strong liquor was concerned . His first glass of grog comforted him ; his second agreeably excited him ; his third -LRB- as he knew by former experience -RRB- reached his weak point on a sudden , and robbed him treacherously of his sobriety .