midnight
`` Oh nothing , nothing . I was wool-gathering . Come in and wait ; I 'll have the medicine ready in less than no time . '' Terry arrived a little before midnight , having made the difficult cross-country journey from the Curragh , looking so troubled and unhappy that his mother 's heart was soft over him as when he was the little boy she remembered . He bent his six foot of height to kiss her , and his voice was husky as he asked how his father was . `` He is asleep , thank God , '' she answered . `` He came to himself for a little time while I was out this afternoon .