four o'clock in the morning
`` If I may be pardoned for alluding to a purely personal matter , '' de Grost continued , `` what is to become of me ? '' `` You will be bound and gagged in the same manner as your manager and his clerk , '' Bernadine replied smoothly . `` I regret the necessity , but you see I can afford to run no risks . At four o'clock in the morning you will be released . It must be part of our agreement that you allow the man who stays behind the others for the purpose of setting you free , to depart unmolested . I think I know you better than to imagine you would be guilty of such _ gaucherie _ as an appeal to the police . '' `` That , unfortunately , '' de Grost declared , with a little sigh , `` is , as you well know , out of the question .