midnight
`` There , Mr. Cleek , '' resumed the Captain , after he could master his emotion . `` That is the case -- that is the riddle I am praying to Heaven that you may be able to solve . 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 .