half past eleven
I made the boat and the hotel in double quick time . -LSB- Illustration : I babbled aimlessly to myself and then managed to pull together and beat it to the lake -RSB- I felt no misgivings now as to the promise of a sensation that night , and that sustaining thought was all that propped my flagging spirits throughout the day , but I resolved to keep my little party at safe distance from the house . `` Say we keep our nocturnal noctambulation under our hats , '' proposed Rob . When this proposition was translated to Silvia , she entirely approved , so , committing Diogenes to the Polydores ' Providence , we left the hotel at half past eleven for a row on the lake by moonlight . When we descended the slope leading to the House of Mystery , I cautioned silence and a `` safety-first '' distance . `` Ghosts are easily vanished , '' I informed them . `` They do n't seek limelight , and I want you to be sure to see this one . ''