about midnight
It was intimated by the chairman that any further raids upon the population would be met in a spirit of hostility . My poor parents left the meeting broken-hearted , desperate and , I believe , not altogether sane . Anyhow , I deemed it prudent not to enter the oilery with them that night , but slept outside in a stable . At about midnight some mysterious impulse caused me to rise and peer through a window into the furnace-room , where I knew my father now slept . The fires were burning as brightly as if the following day 's harvest had been expected to be abundant . One of the large cauldrons was slowly `` walloping '' with a mysterious appearance of self-restraint , as if it bided its time to put forth its full energy . My father was not in bed ; he had risen in his night clothes and was preparing a noose in a strong cord .