about nine o'clock
I was not fortunate , indeed , in finding that any one even knew of the oddly appointed room ; but considering that , owing to the time the house had remained vacant , the existence of this eccentricity could be a tradition only with some casual few , my failure did not strike me as being at all bodeful . On the contrary , it only whetted my desire to investigate further in person , and penetrate to the heart of a very captivating little mystery . But probably , I thought , it is quite simple of solution , and the fact of the repairers and the landlord being in evidence at one time , a natural coincidence . `` I dined well , and sallied forth about nine o'clock . It was a night pregnant with possibilities . The lower strata of air were calm , but overhead the wind went down the sea with a noise of baggage-wagons , and there was an ominous hurrying and gathering together of forces under the bellying standards of the clouds . `` As I went up the steps of the lonely building , the High Street seemed to turn all its staring eyes of lamps in my direction .