midnight
Every newspaper in the land would snatch at it for a headline , and ask -- why ? And they would not be content with simply asking why -- this thing is too big for that -- too much before the people 's eyes -- too good ` copy . ' They 'd start in to find out -- and the result is inevitable . Our safety so far has lain in the fact that there has been no suspicion aroused ; but snooping around a bank vault at midnight with a mask on and a bull 's - eye lantern fades to a whisper as a suspicion-arouser compared with anybody willingly coughing up a bunch of money once they 've got their claws on it -- and a yellow journal , let alone an army corps of them , on the scent of a possible sensation has all the detective bureaus in the country pinned to the ropes -- they 'd have us uncovered quicker than I like to think about it -- and that means -- '' He stopped , and with a hurried motion , carried his hands across his eyes -- Helena , pure as one of God 's own angels now , to come to that , to come to -- It was the Flopper who completed the sentence . `` Ten spaces up de river , '' said the Flopper , and shivered , and his tongue sought his lips ; `` or mabbe -- mabbe twenty . '' Pale Face Harry stirred uneasily . `` There 's the other way , '' he said without looking up , his eyes on his finger nail that traced the grain of the wood again .