midnight
But Jonah feared dimly that if he ventured inside the house he would bring himself under the law . So he grinned , and kept his distance , like an animal that fears a trap . But at last , his resistance worn to a thread by constant coaxing , he had agreed to spend the night there on account of the fowls . He was interested in these , for one pair was his gift to Ada , the fruit of some midnight raid . Jonah stood alone at the corner watching the crowd . Chook 's reference to the baby had shaken his resolution , and he decided to think it over . And as he watched the moving procession with the pleasure of a spectator at the play , he thought uneasily of women and marriage .