one o'clock
Do n't talk about it any more , dear . I 'm going to enjoy this evening with you all . And I hope -- oh , how I hope -- that operation will be a success ! '' If it were not to be a success it would not be the fault of the man who worked till one o'clock -- two o'clock -- three o'clock it the morning to perfect the strangely convoluted tool which was to help `` do the trick '' if it could be done . Part of the work was done in the laboratory , part in the machine shop which occupied a corner of the old red barn , where the Green Imp lent her lamps as aids to the task in hand . At four , the instrument finished , sterilized , and put away as if it were worth its weight in gold -- which it might easily have been if it were to prove fitted to the peculiar need -- Burns went to bed . At six he was up again , had a cold plunge and a hearty breakfast , and at seven was sending the Imp out of the gateway , his office nurse beside him .