midnight
But Joan decided that they were men of importance in the Solomons , and that their examination of the plantation and of its accounts was of sinister significance . At dinner no word was dropped that gave a hint of their errand . The conversation was on general topics ; but Joan could not help noticing the troubled , absent expression that occasionally came into Sheldon 's eyes . After coffee , she left them ; and at midnight , from across the compound , she could hear the low murmur of their voices and see glowing the fiery ends of their cigars . Up early herself , she found they had already departed on another tramp over the plantation . `` What you think ? '' she asked Viaburi .