midnight
`` Or think she understands , '' he amended ruefully . The telephone girl did not get Miss Elliot , for good and sufficient reasons , but succeeded in extracting a promise from the maiden cousin at Greenvale that the message would be transmitted . Through the day and far into the night Hal worked unsparingly , finding time somehow to visit or call up the hospital every hour . At midnight they told him that Ellis was barely holding his own . Hal put the `` Clarion '' to bed that night , before going to the Surtaine mansion , hopeless of sleep , yet , nevertheless , so worn out that he sank into instant slumber as soon as he had drawn the sheets over him . On his way to the office in the morning , he ran full upon Dr. Elliot . For a moment Hal thought that the ex-officer meant to strike him with the cane which he raised .