midnight
She had decided that the nocturnal excursions were not due to insomnia but were carefully planned to avoid possible observation . When all the countryside was wrapped in slumber the old gentleman stole from his cottage and went -- where ? Doubtless to some secret place that had an important bearing on his life and occupation . It would be worth while , Josie believed , to discover the object of these midnight excursions . Ingua claimed that her grandfather 's periods of wakeful walking were irregular ; sometimes he would be gone night after night , and then for weeks he would remain at home and sleep like other folks . So Josie was not surprised when old Swallowtail 's light was extinguished shortly after ten o'clock and from then until midnight he had not left the house . Evidently this was not one of his `` wakeful '' periods .