midnight before
He would have preferred to solve this knotty problem before retiring . He lay awake a long time thinking deeply , and the more he thought the more firmly he believed that Walter was right in his conclusions that the first narrative was the true one . Then the thought came ; if this is correct , it will turn the whole world into confusion , for everybody believes in the dust man ; in fact , every clergyman I know of is preaching the gospel from this standpoint . It was after midnight before he finally went to sleep . Walter , also , lay awake some time , but he was not trying to solve the question of which was the true narrative ; he had fully satisfied himself in regard to this . What he was trying to do was to think of some way to convince his father and mother in regard to it . Nearly two months had passed since the evening of the last Bible lesson .