midnight
help ! '' It was impossible for Mr. Clarke to disengage himself , and equally impracticable to speak in his own vindication ; so that here he stood trembling and half throttled , until the whole house being alarmed , the landlady and her ostler ran upstairs with a candle . When the light rendered objects visible , an equal astonishment prevailed on all sides ; Crabshaw was confounded at sight of Mr. Clarke , whose person he well knew ; and releasing him instantly from his grasp , `` Bodikins ! '' cried he , `` I believe as how this hause is haunted -- who thought to meet with Measter Laawyer Clarke at midnight , and so far from hoam ? '' The landlady could not comprehend the meaning of this encounter ; nor could Tom conceive how Crabshaw had transported himself thither from the room below , in which he saw him quietly reposed . Yet nothing was more easy than to explain this mystery : the apartment below was the chamber which the hostess and her daughter reserved for their own convenience ; and this particular having been intimated to the squire while he was at supper , he had resigned his bed quietly , and been conducted hither in the absence of the company . Tom , recollecting himself as well as he could , professed himself of Crabshaw 's opinion , that the house was haunted , declaring that he could not well account for his being there in the dark ; and leaving those that were assembled to discuss this knotty point , retired downstairs in hope of meeting with his charmer , whom accordingly he found in the kitchen just risen , and wrapped in a loose dishabille .