about three o’clock
My fowlhouse stood in a tempting position , and still resenting his repulse during the evening , one of them proposed to operate upon my birds . I was believed to have gone to the rectory with Mr. Raunham . The other was disinclined to go , and the first went off alone . ` It was now about three o'clock . He had advanced as far as the shrubbery , which grows near the north wall of the house , when he fancied he heard , above the rush of the waterfall , noises on the other side of the building . He described them in these words , `` Ghostly mouths talking -- then a fall -- then a groan -- then the rush of the water and creak of the engine as before . '' Only one explanation occurred to him ; the house was haunted .