midnight
But all these emotions finally passed . It was evident that some even stronger force was really governing him . For , with a sharp ejaculation that conveyed every feeling suggested by disappointment , he swung his horse about and galloped off in a southeasterly direction -- toward Orrville . * * * * * * It was past midnight . Effie , flushed with an unusual excitement , was gazing up into her husband 's face . She was listening almost breathlessly to the story he was telling her . The little living-room , more than half kitchen , was bathed in the yellow light of a small tin kerosene lamp .