midnight
`` I think myself it was probably an accidental blast at the quarry down the river , '' said Frank ; `` but I 'll soon find out . '' He did not dress fully , and let himself out on the porch in his slippers . As he walked down to the gate Frank noticed lights appear in many houses nearer the village , as if their inmates had been suddenly aroused from sleep . Then distant voices , a rumbling wagon , people talking in loud tones , boyish shouts and a vague chorus of sounds unusual for the midnight hour , were drifted to Frank 's hearing . From all this , however , he could think out no coherent idea as to what might be going on nearer town . `` It 's not a fire , for there 's no glare , '' he decided . `` There 's some kind of a commotion over near the schoolhouse , it seems .