midnight
With that we left the subject , and Haigh went on to relate what a day he 'd had with the Juggins before that worthy finally tore himself away to catch the Mallorca steamer ; which topic , being treated with a humorous touch , kept us in merriment for the rest of the evening . Next day I lazed , and Haigh , taking his turn on duty , rode down to the neighbourhood of Talaiti de Talt , and brought back news that mystified us still further . The good woman who owned the farm knew nothing about the matter , neither did the ploughman from whom I had bought the three-angled hoe ; but a stonemason in the cemetery above Alayor reported as follows : -- He had seen three men , strangers , come up the road from Ferreiras and walk down that towards Alayor . The time was after midnight , and as he had finished the work which had detained him so long -- to wit , opening a vault for the reception of a fresh tenant on the morrow -- he strolled homewards after them . But as they passed on straight through the town he got a bit curious , and , keeping out of sight , followed astern , along the narrow country roads which led to nowhere special . He saw them pull up before the great tumble-down Talayot which stands opposite the big stone altar , and watched them produce lantern , shovel , and pickaxe , and begin to dig ; after which , feeling that his interest had evaporated -LRB- so he said -RRB- , or , more probably , being oppressed with sleepiness , he returned to Alayor , and soon had his head under the bedclothes . Now this was all understandable enough ; but when that inquisitive tombstone artificer deliberately affirmed , in spite of many attempts to shake his memory , that the spoiling of the Talayot had taken place on the night immediately preceding our arrival in Mahon and the arrival of his most Catholic Majesty 's mail steamer _ Antiguo Mahones _ , then it seemed to Haigh and myself either that somebody was lying most blackly , or that we ourselves could not believe certain of our own senses which we had hitherto considered strictly reliable .