About midnight
I think my father had just offered him some money , for his wallet was in his hand and on the floor lay a bill , as though my brother had thrown it back . I began to cry and ran back to my room , more frightened by them than by the storm . And I lay there in my bed for hours , waiting for something to happen ! '' `` About midnight one dreadful bolt of lightning struck the house . It shattered the chimney all to pieces on the outside and inside , filled the sitting-room with dust and pieces of mortar , cracked the mantel and moved it an inch and a half from the wall . But no one thought much of all that , because something far more dreadful had happened ! My brother was gone and my father 's wallet , the one I had seen in his hand , was missing .