midnight
Though it was clear , from reports that came , that he was the same who had visited other villages and been accepted as the missing Cameron , nothing more was heard of him , and it seemed that he had gone now off the lines of regular communication -- unless , indeed , he had the power of appearing and disappearing at will , which was the popular view of his case . Turrifs Station had become notorious . Trenholme received jeers and gibes even by telegraph from neighbouring stations . He had given account to no one of the midnight visit , but inventive curiosity had supplied details of a truly wonderful nature . It was not on this account that he gave up his situation on the line , but because a new impulse had seized him , and he had no particular reason for remaining . He waited till a new caretaker arrived from the headquarters of the railway , and then set forth from the station the following morning on foot . Turrif had been laid up with some complaint for a week or two , and Alec went to say good-bye to him .