midnight
But in one respect we had had the advantage , and that was in the version Davies had given of his stranding on the Hohenhörn . Inscrutable as our questioner was , he let it appear not only that the incident was new to him , but that he conjectured at its sinister significance . A little cross-examination on detail would have been fatal to Davies 's version ; but that was where our strength lay ; he dared not cross-examine for fear of suggesting to Davies suspicions which he might never have felt . Indeed , I thought I detected that fear underlying his whole attitude towards us , and it strengthened a conviction which had been growing in me since Grimm 's furtive midnight visit , that the secret of this coast was of so important and delicate a nature that rather than attract attention to it at all , overt action against intruders would be taken only in the last resort , and on irrefragable proofs of guilty intention . Now for our clues . I had come away with two , each the germ of a distinct theory , and both obscured by the prevailing ambiguity . Now , however , as we thumbed the chart and I gave full rein to my fancy , one of them , the idea of Memmert , gained precision and vigour every moment .