midnight
` That will do . Then I shall hear -- ' He threw himself into it . She brought him a rug , for the night was chilly , and he submitted . Then she was going away , for it was past midnight , but something in his fixed look , his dull suffering , checked her . She took an old stool and sat down near him . Neither spoke , but his eyes gradually turned to hers , and a strange communion arose between them . Though there were no words , he seemed to be saying to her -- ` My boy !