about midnight
I 've asked the people ; but nobody seems able to give a straight answer . '' `` I think you know what the soldiers mean well enough , '' answered the captain . `` If you had n't known you would n't have turned out of the highway . '' At about midnight we reached Axminster . We were taken before a couple of officers who sat at work by candlelight over a mass of papers , in an upper chamber of an inn . They had a wild air of having been without sleep for some time . Their muddy riding boots were drying in front of the fire .