midnight
The fire was dying -- that was the only difference between twelve o'clock and ten . `` If I had known what was going to happen , '' declared Medora volubly , `` I never could have gone to bed at all ! And to think '' -- here she left Carolyn 's end of the settle and drew nearer to Cope 's -- `` that I should ever have even thought of coming out here without a man ! '' She now rated her midnight intruder as a murderer , and believed more devoutly than ever that Cope had saved all their lives . Cope , who knew that he had contributed nothing but a loud pair of lungs , began to feel rather foolish . Nor did the anomalous situation commend itself in any degree to his taste . But it hit Medora Phillips ' taste precisely , and she continued to sit there , pressing an emotional enjoyment from it .