midnight
So once more Jimmie harnessed up John Cutter 's horses to the plough , and went out into John Cutter 's field to raise another crop of corn for a man whom he hated . All day he guided the plough or the harrow , and at night he fed and cared for the horses and the cows , and then he came home and ate his supper , listening to the rattling of the long freight-train that went through his backyard , carrying materials for the making of TNT . For the great explosives plant was now working day and night , keeping the war in Jimmie 's thoughts all the time , whether he would or not . In the midnight hours the trains of finished materials went out , making Jimmie 's windows rattle with their rumble and clatter , and bearing his fancies away to the battle-line across the seas , where men were soon to be blown to pieces with the contents of these cars . One night something went wrong on the track , and the train stopped in his backyard , and in the morning he saw the cars , painted black , with the word `` danger '' in flaming red letters . On top of the cars walked a man with a club in his hand and a bulge on his hip , keeping guard . It appeared that someone had torn up a rail in the night , evidently for the purpose of wrecking the train ; so there came a detective to Jimmie , while he was working in the field , to cross-question him .