midnight
But the words were low , and she was glad he did not hear them , for if it was his duty to obey the orders he had received , then it was her duty to meet the position in which it left her as bravely as she could . At supper she was so natural that his face rapidly brightened , and it was with quite an air of cheerfulness that he rose at last to lock up the house and make such preparations as were necessary for his dismal ride over the mountains to Fairbanks . She had the supper dishes to wash up in Tennie 's absence , and as she was a busy little housewife she found herself singing a snatch of song as she passed back and forth from dining-room to kitchen . He heard it , too , and smiled to himself as he bolted the windows on the ground floor and examined the locks of the three lower doors , and when he finally came into the kitchen with his greatcoat on to give her his final kiss , he had but one parting injunction to urge , and that was that she should lock the front door after him and then forget the whole matter till she heard his double knock at midnight . She smiled and held up her ingenuous face . `` Be careful of yourself , '' she murmured . `` I hate this dark ride for you , and on such a night too . ''