About midnight
Other detectives who attempted to invade the privacy of that rear coach after the train had gotten under way were also denied . Meanwhile , the filibusters cast restraint aside , and for the first time intermingled freely . Evening came , then night , and still the party was jerked along at the tail of the train without a hint as to its destination . About midnight those who were not dozing noted that they had stopped at an obscure pine-woods junction , and that when the train got under way once more their own car did not move . The ruse was now apparent ; owing to the lateness of the hour , it was doubtful if any one in the forward coaches was aware that the train was lighter by one car . There was a brief delay ; then a locomotive crept out from a siding , coupled up to the standing car , and drew it off upon another track . Soon the `` excursion party '' was being rushed swiftly toward the coast , some twenty miles away .