midnight
His footsteps resounded throughout the house . Boards creaked under his tread . Without actually realizing what he was doing , he began to tiptoe toward the stairway that led to the upper floor . He laughed at himself for this precaution , and yet could not rid himself of the feeling that some one was listening , that the stealth of the midnight burglar was necessary . The stairs groaned under his weight , the dust-covered banister cracked loudly when he laid his hand upon it . He had the strange notion that they were sounding the alarm to some guardian occupant of the premises , -- to a slumbering ghost perhaps . He came at last to the room where Alix and David had played at book-writing .