quarter after midnight
It had no window , and could not therefore be attacked from outside . The very small amount of light that entered it filtered through a pane of glass in the wall of the back-staircase , which ran up close behind . I have said enough , I hope , for any reflective man to draw the conclusion that , since we desired no unpleasantness with the butler -LRB- a man between fifty and sixty , and notoriously incorruptible -RRB- , our only plan was to make an entrance upstairs by the long window at the end of the picture gallery or corridor -- whichever you choose to call it -- descend the back-stairs , remove the pane of glass from the wall , and gain the strong-room through the opening . The house was dark from end to end , and the stable clock had just chimed the quarter after midnight , when I went up the ladder . I never looked for much carefulness in this honest country household , but I did expect to spend twenty minutes on the heavy lead-work of the lower panes , and it seemed as good as a miracle to find the lattice unlatched and opening to the first gentle pull . I pressed it back ; hitched it under a stem of ivy that the wind might not slam it after me ; and , signalling down to Jimmy at the foot of the ladder to wait for my report , pulled myself over the sill and dropped softly into the gallery . And then somebody stepped quickly from behind the heavy window curtain , reached out , shut the lattice smartly behind me , and said composedly -- `` Show a light , Jenkins , and let us have a look at the gentleman . ''