About ten o'clock
-LSB- Illustration : WILLIE CARRIED AGNES UP THE STAIR INTO THE GREAT BRANCHES OF THE ELM TREE . -RSB- But Willie began to think whether he might not give Agnes two surprises out of it , with a dream into the bargain , and thought over it until he saw how he could manage it . She always went to bed at seven o'clock , so that by the time the other people in the house began to think of retiring , she was generally fast asleep . About ten o'clock , therefore , the next night , just as a great round moon was peering above the horizon , with a quantity of mackerel clouds ready to receive her when she rose a yard or two higher , Willie , taking a soft shawl of his mother 's , went into Agnes 's room , and having wrapped her in the shawl , with a corner of it over her head and face , carried her out into the garden , down to the trees , and up the stair into the midst of the great boughs and branches of the elm tree . It was a very warm night , with a soft breath of south wind blowing , and there was no risk of her taking cold . He uncovered her face , but did not wake her , leaving that to the change of her position and the freshness of the air . Nor was he disappointed .