midnight
`` I do not know , Peter . '' They attacked the dinner , and by deft stages Peter led the conversation to a lighter vein . It was nearly ten when they left , the dining-room was all but deserted and they departed in high spirits , her arm within his , her smile happy and apparently genuine . `` We must wait until midnight , '' she informed him . `` He will be asleep ; the servants will have retired . '' Peter suggested a rickshaw ride through the Chinese city to while away the hours in between , but the girl demurred , and amended the suggestion to a street-car ride to Causeway Bay . He consented , and they caught a car in front of the hotel , and climbed to seats on the roof .