twelve o'clock midnight
Yes , with Ray she was safe ; by him she would never be discovered ! The pleasantest experience Thea had that summer was a trip that she and her mother made to Denver in Ray Kennedy 's caboose . Mrs. Kronborg had been looking forward to this excursion for a long while , but as Ray never knew at what hour his freight would leave Moonstone , it was difficult to arrange . The call-boy was as likely to summon him to start on his run at twelve o'clock midnight as at twelve o'clock noon . The first week in June started out with all the scheduled trains running on time , and a light freight business . Tuesday evening Ray , after consulting with the dispatcher , stopped at the Kronborgs ' front gate to tell Mrs. Kronborg -- who was helping Tillie water the flowers -- that if she and Thea could be at the depot at eight o'clock the next morning , he thought he could promise them a pleasant ride and get them into Denver before nine o'clock in the evening . Mrs. Kronborg told him cheerfully , across the fence , that she would `` take him up on it , '' and Ray hurried back to the yards to scrub out his car .