midnight
Yet when daylight came and I went to unlock the boys ' bedchamber door , I saw that the stocking and all the treasures which I had bought for my little godchild were gone . There was not a vestige of them remaining ! Of course we told the boys nothing . As for me , after dinner I went home and buried myself once more in my history , and so interested was I that midnight came without my knowing it . I should not have looked up at all , I suppose , to become aware of the time , had it not been for a faint , sweet sound as of a child striking a stringed instrument . It was so delicate and remote that I hardly heard it , but so joyous and tender that I could not but listen , and when I heard it a second time it seemed as if I caught the echo of a child 's laugh . At first I was puzzled .