midnight
He had the feeling that the old tree outside the door still held its beneficent spell and that this magic would regulate for him those elements of chance and luck without which he could not hope to survive until Dorothy and Uncle Jase came back -- and Dorothy had started on a hard journey over broken and pitch-black distances . Fanciful as was this figment of a sick imagination , the result was the same as though it had been a valid conviction , for after a while Old Man Caleb roused himself and stretched his long arms . Then he rose and peered at the clock with his face close to its dial , and once more he replenished the fire . `` Hit 's past midnight now , Bas , '' he complained with a querulous note of anxiety in his words . `` I 'm plum tetchious an ' worrited erbout Dorothy . '' For an avowed lover the seated man gave the impression of churlish unresponsiveness as he made his grumbling reply . `` I reckon she hai n't goin ' ter come ter no harm .