midnight
`` What new freak of yours is this , my boy ? '' said his father , smiling . `` Wait a minute , and I 'll tell you all about it , '' answered Willie . Out he came in his night-shirt , his bare feet dancing with pleasure at having his father for his midnight companion . On the grass , beside the ruins , in the moonlight , by the gurgling water , he told him all about it . `` Yes , my boy ; you are right , '' said his father . `` God never sleeps ; and it would be a pity if we never saw Him at his night-work . ''