nearly midnight
Mrs. Harrington , after her third child was born , had given up even the semblance of attending to the children , and left them to Nellie and the servants . She was doing quite enough , she once told her husband bitterly , in staying with him at such a horrible place in such a horrible country . But she nevertheless always went away to the sea-coast during the hottest months , and succeeded in having a considerable amount of enjoyment , leaving the children and Jack and Miss Alleyne to swelter through the summer at Tinandra Downs as best they could . It was nearly midnight as Harrington took down the slip-rails and led his horse through the paddock up to the house , which , except for a dimly burning lamp in the dining-room , was in darkness . The atmosphere was close and sultry , and the perspiration ran down his skin in streams as he gave his horse to the head-stockman , who was sitting on the verandah awaiting him . `` Terrible night , sir , but I 'm thinking if it keeps on like this for another hour or two we 'll get a big thunderstorm . ` Sugar-bag ' '' -LRB- one of the black boys -RRB- `` was here just now and says that the ant-heaps about are covered with ants -- that 's a sure sign , sir . ''