about ten o'clock
`` I am sure that you did all you could do , '' my sister said . `` I meant to , dear Esther , but , God help me , it was hard to tell what was right . He left me , and I heard his footsteps die away down the long corridor . It was then about ten o'clock , or a little after . For a time I paced up and down the room , and then , carrying the lamp to the head of my bed , I lay down without undressing , reading St. Thomas a Kempis , and praying from my heart that the night might pass safely over us . `` I had at last fallen into a troubled sleep when I was suddenly aroused by a loud , sonorous sound ringing in my ears . I sat up bewildered , but all was silent again .