midnight
By a deliberate effort of the will she banished every suggestion beyond this kindly impulse . If there were graver arguments to urge themselves , they were for others rather than for her . * * * * * That she was not the only person within eight or ten hours to be startled by the sight of that little old man was abundantly evidenced later . John Stanchfield , Elias Palmer , Harold Ormthwaite , and Nathan Ridge , all farmers or market-gardeners of the Colcord district , testified to frights and `` spooky feelings '' on being accosted by a dim gray figure plodding along the Colcord road in the lonely interval between midnight and morning . The dim gray figure seemed to have recognized the different `` teams '' by the section of the road through which they jolted or by their flickering lamps . `` That you , ` Lias ? '' `` Why , yes !