midnight
The old man watched them with increasing interest and excitement , until his whole appearance underwent a complete change . His face was flushed and eager , his teeth set . With a hand that trembled violently he seized Nell 's little purse , and in spite of her pleadings joined in the game , gambling with such a savage thirst for gain that the distressed and frightened child could almost better have borne to see him dead . It was long after midnight when the play came to an end ; and they were forced to remain where they were until the morning . And in the night the child was wakened from her troubled sleep to find a figure in the room -- a figure busying its hands about her garments , while its face was turned to her , listening and looking lest she should awake . It was her grandfather himself , his white face pinched and sharpened by the greediness which made his eyes unnaturally bright , counting the money of which his hands were robbing her . Evening after evening , after that night , the old man would steal away , not to return until the night was far spent , demanding , wildly , money .