two o'clock
Dan 's idea was to lie awake until three in the morning , then steal cautiously out of the house , get Crippy , and start . But it was much harder work to remain awake than he had fancied , and before he had been in bed an hour he was sleeping soundly . But even though his eyes persisted in closing despite his will , Dan did not sleep very long at a time . He was awake at least every half-hour , and his small stock of matches was exhausted as early as two o'clock . With no means of procuring a light , it would be impossible for him to know when the time had come , and , since he did not dare to go to sleep again , he concluded it would be better to set out at once than run the risk of delaying until his father should awaken . During the time he was making very awkward attempts to dress himself in the darkness , his fingers trembling violently both from fear and the cold , he fancied each moment that he could hear his parents moving around , as if they had suspected his purpose , and were on the alert to prevent him from carrying it into execution . It seemed too , as if each particular board in the floor creaked in protest at what he was doing , and to give the alarm .