ten o'clock
We stood by also , momentarily expecting to see the bed break into flames ; but nothing happened , except rather a nice , hot smell . At last , with one accord they flew at the blankets , turned them down , took out dish and frame , and repeated the same process with Maida 's narrow bunk . It took us nearly an hour afterwards to get ready for bed , but when we crept in at last it was like cuddling down in a hot bird 's - nest , odorous of cooked moss . In the daytime we had n't noticed that the hotel was particularly noisy , though it apparently had most other vices ; but ten o'clock seemed the hour when all the activities of the house and town began . Church bells boomed ; electric bells rang ; myriads of heavy carts rolled through the stone-paved square ; people sang , whistled , laughed , gossipped , quarrelled , and even danced in the street under our windows , while those in the hotel had apparently been advised by their physicians to run up and down stairs for hours without stopping , for the good of their livers . It was a busy night for everybody , and my one consolation was in planning the dreadful tortures I would inflict on the whole population of Cuneo if I were King of Italy . I thought of some very original things , but the worst of it was , when I did finally fall asleep I dreamed that they were being tried on me .