midnight
laughed the eccentric , shaking his sides as though they were agitated by a young earthquake . `` Tell him I gave you the bill ! '' The captain seemed to be intensely amused at the novel idea ; and Laud did not object ; on the contrary , he seemed to appreciate the joke . It was midnight when he left the house , and went to the Juno to sleep in her cabin . If he had gone home earlier in the evening , he might have seen Captain Patterdale , who did him the honor to make a late call upon him . Donald did not sleep very well in the cabin of the Maud , not only because his bed was very hard and uncomfortable , but because he was troubled ; and before morning he fully realized the truth of the saying , in regard to certain persons , that `` they choose darkness , because their deeds are evil . '' He wished he had not consented to keep the secret of either Captain Shivernock or Laud Cavendish , and was afraid he had compromised himself by his silence .