midnight
`` But it came alive . '' Then they sat down under their tree -- all but Colin , who wanted to stand while he told the story . It was the strangest thing he had ever heard , Archibald Craven thought , as it was poured forth in headlong boy fashion . Mystery and Magic and wild creatures , the weird midnight meeting -- the coming of the spring -- the passion of insulted pride which had dragged the young Rajah to his feet to defy old Ben Weatherstaff to his face . The odd companionship , the play acting , the great secret so carefully kept . The listener laughed until tears came into his eyes and sometimes tears came into his eyes when he was not laughing . The Athlete , the Lecturer , the Scientific Discoverer was a laughable , lovable , healthy young human thing .