three in the morning
In the meantime , Whitaker would have little leisure in which to brood , the winding up of his affairs being counted upon to occupy him . Peter had his own affairs to look to , for that matter , but he was prepared to slight them if necessary , in order that Whitaker might not be left too much to himself ... . Whitaker shut the hall door , when the elevator had taken Peter away , and turned back wearily into his living-room . It was three in the morning ; his body ached with fatigue , his eyes were hot and aching in their sockets , and his mouth hot and parched with excess of smoking ; yet he made no move toward his bedchamber . Insomnia was a diagnostic of his malady : a fact he had n't mentioned to his friend . He had little wish to surrender his mind to the devils that haunt a wakeful pillow , especially now when he could feel the reaction setting in from the anodynous excitement of the last few hours . Peter Stark 's whirlwind enthusiasm had temporarily swept him off his feet , and he had yielded to it , unresisting , selfish enough to want to be carried away against the wiser counsels of his intuition .