midnight
But as time wore on , and their furtive ways grew more and more pronounced , people began to talk , and from talking they took to watching and spying . For , believe me , there is nothing so all-absorbing as for once respected and well-thought-of people to be under a cloud . We allow our imaginations to run riot , and our tongues do not rust for want of wagging . '' ` Thus suspicion gradually filled the air , and it was whispered that Baji Lal and Devaka had murdered their guest for his money , and had merely invented the story of his midnight departure to hide their crime . Children who once used to run to them shrank back , or were called away by their parents . '' ` But , most extraordinary thing of all , and one that brought convincing confirmation to what had at first been mere suspicion , at night there could be heard heartbreaking cries and sobs coming from the house of Baji Lal . The voice was not his , nor that of his wife ; it was , in all truth , the wail of a spirit , plaintive at times , then angry as if shrieking aloud for vengeance .