midnight
She is not beautiful , like Manella -- but she is something more than beautiful -- she is bewitching ! I wonder where she means to go ! '' Suddenly a thought struck him , -- a vivid impression coming from he knew not whence -- an idea that he had forgotten a small item of detail in the air-ship which its owner might or might not notice , but which would certainly imply some slight forgetfulness on his part . He glanced at his watch , -- it was close on midnight . Acting on a momentary impulse he decided not to wait till morning , but to go at once down to the shed and see that everything in and about the vessel was absolutely and finally in order . As he walked among the perfumed tangles of shrub and flower in his garden , and out towards the sea-shore he was impressed by the great silence everywhere around him . Everything looked like a moveless picture -- a study in still life .