midnight
As I returned to my bed I chuckled much to myself over this thought . I knew that my bars were strong and my bolts thick . It mattered little to me whether this strange man spent his night at my door or a hundred leagues off , so long as he was gone by the morning . As I expected , when I rose and went out , there was no sign of him , nor had he left any trace of his midnight vigil . It was not long , however , before I saw him again . I had been out for a row one morning , for my head was aching , partly from prolonged stooping , and partly from the effects of a noxious drug which I had inhaled the night before . I pulled along the coast some miles , and then , feeling thirsty , I landed at a place where I knew that a fresh water stream trickled down into the sea .