midnight
That night the Sunnyside ghost began to walk again . Liddy had been sleeping in Louise 's dressing-room on a couch , and the approach of dusk was a signal for her to barricade the entire suite . Situated as its was , beyond the circular staircase , nothing but an extremity of excitement would have made her pass it after dark . I confess myself that the place seemed to me to have a sinister appearance , but we kept that wing well lighted , and until the lights went out at midnight it was really cheerful , if one did not know its history . On Friday night , then , I had gone to bed , resolved to go at once to sleep . Thoughts that insisted on obtruding themselves I pushed resolutely to the back of my mind , and I systematically relaxed every muscle . I fell asleep soon , and was dreaming that Doctor Walker was building his new house immediately in front of my windows : I could hear the thump-thump of the hammers , and then I waked to a knowledge that somebody was pounding on my door .