midnight
But it was evident that , in Winterman 's case , the usual classification must be reversed , and that the discussion of ideas carried one much farther into his intimacy than any specific acquaintance with the incidents of his life . `` That 's exactly what Howland Wade and his tribe have never understood about Pellerin : that it 's much less important to know how , or even why , he disapp -- '' Bernald pulled himself up with a jerk , and turned to look full at his companion . It was late on the Monday evening , and the two men , after an hour 's chat on the verandah to the tune of Mrs. Wade 's knitting-needles , had bidden their hostess good-night and strolled back to the bungalow together . `` Come and have a pipe before you turn in , '' Winterman had said ; and they had sat on together till midnight , with the door of the bungalow open on a heaving moonlit bay , and summer insects bumping against the chimney of the lamp . Winterman had just bent down to re-fill his pipe from the jar on the table , and Bernald , jerking about to catch him in the yellow circle of lamplight , sat speechless , staring at a fact that seemed suddenly to have substituted itself for Winterman 's face , or rather to have taken on its features . `` No , they never saw that Pellerin 's ideas _ were _ Pellerin . ... '' He continued to stare at Winterman .