midnight
As soon as supper was over in the housekeeper 's room , Dorothy sped to the keep , where she found Caspar at work . ` My lord is not yet from supper , mistress , ' he said . ` Will it please you wait while he comes ? ' Had it been till midnight , so long as there was a chance of his appearing , Dorothy would have waited . Caspar did his best to amuse her , and succeeded , -- showing her one curious thing after another , -- amongst the rest a watch that seemed to want no winding after being once set agoing , but was in fact wound up a little by every opening of the case to see the dial . All the while the fire-engine was at work on its mysterious task , with but now and then a moment 's attention from Caspar , a billet of wood or a shovelful of sea-coal on the fire , a pull at a cord , or a hint from the hooked rod . The time went rapidly .