noon on Monday
Nor had Bates . Of course , Robinson did not venture to describe Winter . Finally , he put the incident aside as a clear case of thought-reading . Shortly before noon on Monday occurred two events destined to assume a paramount importance in the affair which was wringing the withers of Steynholme . As in the histories of both men and nations , these first steps in great developments began quietly enough . For one thing , Furneaux returned to the village . For another , the London telegraphist , who expected the day to prove practically a blank , was reading a newspaper when the telegraph instrument clicked the local call .