midnight
* * * * * `` The plan takes , '' said the count to the countess , `` give me the keys , and the worthy man will be in safety before daylight . '' `` Is he not suspicious ? '' `` Not at all . '' * * * * * That night , about an hour before midnight , -- the Count Morven stole towards the philosopher 's room . He tapped at the door . `` Enter , '' said the philosopher . The count entered , and saw the philosopher seated , and by him a lamp of peculiar construction , and incased in gauze wire , and a cloak .