nearly an hour after midnight
For hours he had knelt so in unceasing vigilance , gazing unblinking and tireless at the exhausted face upon the pillow . It might have been the face of a dead man upon which he gazed , but the pulses that fluttered in his hold told him otherwise . Lucas still held feebly , feebly , to his chain . It was nearly an hour after midnight that a voice spoke in the utter silence . `` Boney ! '' `` I 'm here , old chap . '' `` Good-bye , dear fellow ! ''