five o'clock
Following his example , I folded the table together and took up the chairs , and our host , still dazed and silent , mechanically obeyed him and moved to the door . We removed all traces of the experiment , taking the empty bowl back to the house concealed beneath an ulster . The air was cool and fragrant as we walked to the house , the stars beginning to fade overhead and a fresh wind of early morning blowing up out of the east where the sky was already hinting of the coming day . It was after five o'clock . Stealthily we entered the front hall and locked the door , and as we went on tiptoe upstairs to our rooms , the Colonel , peering at us over his candle as he nodded good-night , whispered that if we were ready the digging should be begun that very day . Then I saw him steal along to his sister 's room and disappear . But not even the mysterious references to the mummy , or the prospect of a revelation by digging , were able to hinder the reaction that followed the intense excitement of the past twelve hours , and I slept the sleep of the dead , dreamless and undisturbed .