midnight
The lights , but one , were out . McCloud and Whispering Smith had gone , and Marion was locking up the house for the night , when she was halted by a knock at the shop door . It was a summons that she thought she knew , but the last in the world that she wanted to hear or to answer . Dicksie had gone to the bedroom , and standing between the portières that curtained the work-room from the shop , Marion in the half-light listened , hesitating whether to ignore or to answer the midnight intruder . But experience , and bitter experience , had taught her there was only one way to meet that particular summons , and that was to act , whether at noon or at midnight , without fear . She waited until the knocking had been twice repeated , turned up the light , and going to the door drew the bolt ; Sinclair stood before her , and she drew back for him to enter . `` Dicksie Dunning is with me to-night , '' said Marion , with her hand on the latch , `` and we shall have to talk here . ''