midnight
Ichabod looked up at his friends with a wry smile , that was touched with grimness . `` Boys , '' he remarked whimsically , `` it seems to me as if Icky had had about enough reminders fer one day without these pesky Dominick pullets a-buttin ' in . '' The door to the fisherman 's shack stood ajar , and in the opening showed the form of a man . As the light from the newly risen moon fell full upon the wrinkled features of the face , a pleased , contented smile was to be seen as he placidly puffed his corncob pipe and blew rings before him in the quiet , heavy , midnight air . It was Captain Ichabod , home again after the momentous happenings of the day when the dead body was found in the wreck of _ The Isabel _ . The Captain had been more or less methodical in his ways all his life , but he had never carried routine so far as to keep a diary . Probably during the past twenty years , living the life he had upon his lonely island , there had not been enough of incident to have suggested even the idea of such a record .