midnight
I 've read it . It was eloquent , vibrating with eloquence , but too high-strung , I think . Seventeen pages of close writing he had found time for ! But this must have been before his -- let us say -- nerves , went wrong , and caused him to preside at certain midnight dances ending with unspeakable rites , which -- as far as I reluctantly gathered from what I heard at various times -- were offered up to him -- do you understand ? -- to Mr. Kurtz himself . But it was a beautiful piece of writing . The opening paragraph , however , in the light of later information , strikes me now as ominous .