one o’clock
The baby was now threatened with convulsions , and a trained nurse had been installed . But , as Mary did not in the least trust the nurse , who , according to her account , was quite unaccustomed to children , she insisted upon dogging that functionary 's footsteps . Therefore , Morris saw little of her . It was one o'clock on Christmas morning , or more . Hours ago Morris had gone though his rites , the ritual that he had invented or discovered -- in its essence , simple and pathetic enough -- whereby he strove to bring himself to the notice of the dead , and to fit himself to see or hear the dead . Such tentative mysticism as served his turn need not be written down , but its substance can be imagined by many . Then , through an exercise of his will , he had invoked the strange , trance-like state which has been described .