about midnight
Here they were , at last , on the Canal Zone , and , in a way , in the secret service of the government . It was late when they retired , and no guard was set . This Ned regretted , after the others were asleep , and so lay awake a long time , watching . Then , about midnight , he saw some one looking in at the porch door . Ned lay perfectly still and the door was closed again , with the figure still on the outside . There were no lights inside the cottage , and it was a fairly clear night , so the boy could see the man standing on the porch , the wire screen in the door robbing his figure of sharp outline . The intruder appeared to be listening for some sound within .