midnight
Then he went into the kitchen and fixed the dishcloth rack . Before going to bed that night he took his usual walk around the house . The sky was freckled with stars . It was generally his habit to make a tour of his property toward midnight , to be sure everything was in good order . He always looked into the ice-box , and admired the cleanliness of Fuji 's arrangements . The milk bottles were properly capped with their round cardboard tops ; the cheese was never put on the same rack with the butter ; the doors of the ice-box were carefully latched . Such observations , and the slow twinkle of the fire in the range , deep down under the curfew layer of coals , pleased him .