midnight
Notwithstanding the grotesque effect of his exaggerated nasal organ , Jem 's aspect was at once savage and repulsive ; his lank black hair hung about his inflamed visage in wild elf locks , the animal predominating throughout ; his eyes were small , red , and wolfish , and glared suspiciously from beneath his scarred and tufted eyebrows ; while certain of his teeth projected , like the tusks of a boar , from out his coarse-lipped , sensual mouth . Dwarfish in stature , and deformed in person , Jem was built for strength ; and what with his width of shoulder and shortness of neck , his figure looked as square and as solid as a cube . His throat and hirsute chest , constantly exposed to the weather , had acquired a glowing tan , while his arms , uncovered to the shoulders , and clothed with fur , like a bear 's hide , down , almost , to the tips of his fingers , presented a knot of folded muscles , the concentrated force of which few would have desired to encounter in action . It was now on the stroke of midnight ; and Jem , who had been lying extended upon the floor of his hovel , suddenly aroused by that warning impulse which never fails to awaken one of his calling at the exact moment when they require to be upon the alert , now set about fanning into flame the expiring fuel upon his hearth . Having succeeded in igniting further portions of the turf , Jem proceeded to examine the security of his door and window , and satisfied that lock and bolt were shot , and that the shutter was carefully closed , he kindled a light at his fire , and walked towards his bedroom . But it was not to retire for the night that the ferryman entered his dormitory . Beside his crazy couch stood a litter of empty bottles and a beer cask , crowding the chamber .