midnight
She had not taken him seriously ; he had always blustered , and while she had realized that he was angry enough to make his word good , she had supposed that he would make a division of the property if he intended to leave her , and make arrangements for the child . She did not believe that he was gone , and answered the observations and questions of the hired men by saying that he had probably gone for the baby . In fact , having once said it , it sounded plausible to her , and she waited till far into the night for the sound of his horse 's footsteps . The suspicion which at midnight was yet a suspicion was by morning a certainty , but Elizabeth kept her own counsel , and when Nathan brought Jack at noon she did not speak of her husband 's absence . The second day the hired men began to make mention of it , and the evening of the third day Luther Hansen appeared at the sitting-room door . `` Lizzie , what 's this I hear about Hunter ? '' he asked , looking searchingly into her face .