midnight
A great many things were , in fact , happening . Among them , Europe -- wire answering wire -- was engaged in declaring general War . Nicky-Nan , stretched in the four-post bed which had been the Old Doctor 's , recked nothing of this . But his leg gave him considerable pain that night , He slept soon , but ill , and awoke before midnight to the sound -- as it seemed -- of sobbing . Something was wrong with the Penhaligon 's children ? Yet no ... the sound seemed to come rather from the chamber where Mr and Mrs Penhaligon slept ... . It ceased , and he dropped off to sleep again .