two o'clock
Gray was a talkative man , therefore he argued this point until he began to suspect that his companion was not heeding his words so much as the sound of his voice . More plainly than before he realized that there was something about Allie to-night utterly strange and quite contrary to his conception of her , but , because he believed her to be unlike other women , he did not try to understand it . During the night an explosive crash followed by a loud reverberation awoke Calvin Gray and brought him up sitting . His room was lit by white flickers , against which he saw that the rain still sheeted his windows ; he fumbled for his watch and found that it was two o'clock . This was a storm , indeed , and he began to fear that this deluge might swell the waters to a danger point ; therefore he rose , struck a light , and dressed himself . Sleep was out of the question , anyhow , amid such an uproar . As he stepped out upon the front porch , his attention was instantly drawn to a yellow glow in the west , a distant torch , the flame of which illuminated the angry night .