midnight
`` He 's going to smash the new speculum out of spite for the thrashing he got , '' muttered Tom ; and nerved now by his indignant excitement , he let himself down from the window , and began to cross the garden without a sound , thinking as he went of the position . `` He could n't get in at the door , '' he said , `` without a strong crow-bar , and the windows are now all strongly fastened . Perhaps after all it 's a mistake . '' But all the same there was a feeling troubling Tom which made him determined to thoroughly make sure that no midnight marauder was about , bent upon destroying the piece of optical work which had been made with so much care . He crept out silently , and across the lane , raised the key to open the yard gate , but replaced it in his pocket , walked a few yards , and , with the intention of not alarming the visitor , softly began to scale the wall , and did the very thing he wished to avoid , for as he passed over the wall on one side of the mill , a dark figure passed over it on the other side , with the difference that as Tom went in the figure went out , and stood peeping over . Stooping low Tom crept up to the doorway and found it fast , tried one window , the one that had been before opened , and found it quite right . Then going round to the back , he found the other window was in the same condition .