midnight
`` Uncle Fabian , do you remember a certain warm night in September some five years ago , when we stopped at the Wirt House in Baltimore ? '' `` On our way home from Canada -- yes , I do . '' `` My room was close that night and I could not sleep . A little after midnight I got up and put oil my dressing-gown and went into the adjoining room , which was our private parlor , and I sat down in a cool corner in the shadow of the curtain and in the draught of the window . I fell asleep , but was soon awakened by the sound of a door opening and some one whispering . I was about to call out when I recognized your voice . The room was pitch dark .