midnight
What the mysterious power is , when , where , or how it got into the room and got at the boy , God alone knows . Mr. Harmstead will swear that he never let the little fellow out of his arms for one solitary instant between the time of our leaving him just after midnight , and Miss Comstock 's coming in in the morning . He admits , however , that twice during that period he fell asleep , but it was only for a few minutes each time ; and long years of being constantly alert for possible marauders -- out there in the wilds of Australia -- have tended to make his sleep so light that anything heavier than a cat 's footfall wakes him on the instant . Yet last night something -- man or spirit -- came and went , and he neither heard nor saw either sound or shape from midnight until morning . One thing I must tell you , however , which may throw some light upon the movements of the appalling thing . Whereas Mr. Harmstead not only closed , but locked , both of the two windows in the room , and pinned the thick plushette curtains of them together -- as Miss Comstock and I saw them pinned when we left the room last night -- when those curtains came to be drawn this morning one of the windows was found to be partly open , and there was a smear of something that looked like grease across the sill and the stone coping beyond . '' `` Of course , of course ! ''