midnight
At first it was nothing , only a slight attack , but it grew worse and turned to a sort of hiccough -- a rattle ; Forestier choked , and every time he tried to breathe he coughed violently . Nothing quieted him . He had to be carried from the landau to his room . The heat of the bed did not stop the attack , which lasted until midnight . The first words the sick man uttered were to ask for a barber , for he insisted on being shaved every morning . He rose to be shaved , but was obliged to go to bed at once , and began to breathe so painfully that Mme. Forestier in affright woke Duroy and asked him to fetch the doctor . He returned almost immediately with Dr. Gavant who prescribed for the sick man .