midnight
`` Indeed ? Step this way , Mr. Brooker . '' Brooker , soothed by the courteous affability of the reception , his sense of importance magnified by being led aside , apart from the others , into the official privacy of the stoep-corner , began to be eloquent . He knew , he said , that the story he had to relate would appear almost incredible , but a soldier , a diplomat , a master of strategy , such as the personage to whom he now addressed himself , would understand -- none better -- how to unravel the tangled web , and follow up the clue to its ending in a den of secret , black , and midnight conspiracy . A blob of foam appeared upon his under-lip . He waved his hands , thick , short-fingered , clammy members ... `` My story is as follows , sir ... '' `` I shall have pleasure in listening to it , Mr. Brooker , on condition that you will do me first the favour of listening to a story of mine ? '' Deferred Brooker protested willingness .