midnight
It was difficult to persuade him that I had only guessed the name whispered ; that , naturally , I should think of Mornac as a high officer of police , and particularly so since I knew him to be a villain , and had also divined his relations with Buckhurst . I drew from the poacher that Tric-Trac had named Mornac as head of the communistic plot in Brittany ; that Mornac was coming to Paradise very soon , and that then something gay might be looked for . And that night I took Speed into my confidence and finally Kelly Eyre , our balloonist . And we talked the matter over until long after midnight . The lions had now begun to give me a great deal of trouble . Timour Melek , the old villain , sat on his chair , snarling and striking at me , but still going through his paces ; Empress Khatoun was a perfect devil of viciousness , and refused to jump her hoops ; even poor little Aïcha , my pet , fed by me soon after her foster-mother , a big Newfoundland , had weaned her , turned sullen in the pyramid scene . I roped her and trimmed her claws ; it was high time .