midnight
And , considering the coolly veiled threats of this young woman whom he had treated with scant ceremony , he had some reason to expect a sequel to the night 's adventure . `` She , '' he thought to himself , `` had nothing on Godiva -- except a piano cover ! '' Recollection of the absurd situation incited his reprehensible merriment to the point of unrestrained laughter ; and he clasped his knees and rocked to and fro , where he sat on his suitcase , all alone under the stars . The midnight express was usually from five to forty minutes late at Orangeville ; but from there east it made up time on the down grade to Albany . And now , as he sat watching , far away along the riverside a star came gliding into view around an unseen curve -- the headlight of a distant locomotive . A few moments later he was in his drawing-room , seated on the edge of the couch , his door locked , the shade over the window looking on the corridor drawn down as far as it would go ; and the train rushing through the starry night on the down grade toward Albany . He could not screen the corridor window entirely ; the shade seemed to be too short ; but it was late , the corridor dark , all the curtains in the car closed tightly over the berths , and his privacy was not likely to be disturbed .