midday
And they were right , though they never would have dreamed of the nature of the sport , even if they had seen him running coyotes in night-chases over the hills of Mill Valley . Neither were the schooner captains believed when they reported seeing , on cold winter mornings , a man swimming in the tide-rips of Raccoon Straits or in the swift currents between Goat island and Angel Island miles from shore . In the bungalow at Mill Valley he lived alone , save for Lee Sing , the Chinese cook and factotum , who knew much about the strangeness of his master , who was paid well for saying nothing , and who never did say anything . After the satisfaction of his nights , a morning 's sleep , and a breakfast of Lee Sing 's , James Ward crossed the bay to San Francisco on a midday ferryboat and went to the club and on to his office , as normal and conventional a man of business as could be found in the city . But as the evening lengthened , the night called to him . There came a quickening of all his perceptions and a restlessness . His hearing was suddenly acute ; the myriad night-noises told him a luring and familiar story ; and , if alone , he would begin to pace up and down the narrow room like any caged animal from the wild .