midnight
We were soon ready , and sallied forth unperceived from the inn . We had no purpose , no ultimate views ; yet both Pigtop and myself seemed fully to understand that we should be compelled into some desperate adventure . I was going armed , and by night , like an assassin , to seek the presence , or , at least , to watch over the safety of a father I had never seen , never loved , and never respected . The space that separated the abode of my father from the inn was soon passed ; and , a little after midnight , I stood within the gloomy and park-like enclosure that circumscribed the front of the large old mansion . The lodge was a ruin , the gates had long been thrown down , and we stumbled over some of their remnants , imbedded in the soil , and matted to it with long and tangled grass . I observed that there was a scaffolding over the front of the lodge ; but whether it were for the purpose of repairing or taking down , I could not then discover . As my companion and myself advanced to the front of the building , we also observed that , lofty as were its walls , it was scaffolded to the very attics , and some part of the roof of the right wing was already removed .