About nine o'clock
Only for a moment it lasted . A heavy cloud curtain was drawn hurriedly across the west as though the scene in its marvelous beauty was too sacred for the gaze of men whose souls were dwarfed by baser visions . For an instant a single star gleamed above the curtain in the soft green of the upper sky ; then it too vanished , blotted out by the flying forerunners of the coming storm . About nine o'clock , when the first wild fury of the gale had passed , a man , muffled in a heavy coat and with a soft hat pulled low over his face , made his way along the deserted streets . In front of the Goodrich hardware and implement store , he stopped and looked carefully about as though in fear of some observer . Then taking a key from his pocket , he unlocked the door and entered . Walking quickly through the room to the office , as though familiar with the place , he knelt before the big safe , his hand upon the knob that worked the combination .