midnight
`` Yes , the papers told us . The Ericsson . '' `` There came , '' said Edward , `` there came from behind the Minnesota a cheese-box on a shingle . It had lain there hidden by her bulk since midnight . It was its single light that we had watched and thought no more of ! A cheese-box on a shingle -- and now it darted into the open as though a boy 's arm had sent it ! It was little beside the Minnesota .