midnight
`` Good , '' said Thomas pleasantly . `` Want a handkerchief ? '' That evening he wrote to his mother and , thanking her for kind inquiries , stated that he was not being bullied . He added , also in answer to inquiries , that he had not been tossed in a blanket , and that -- so far -- no Hulking Senior -LRB- with scowl -RRB- had let him down from the dormitory window after midnight by a sheet , in order that he might procure gin from the local public-house . As far as he could gather , the seniors were mostly teetotallers . Yes , he had seen Spencer several times . He did not add that he had seen him from a distance .