midnight before
Just our luck ! '' `` We 'd better be off , '' said Waldron , and he led the way . It was a flag station , as he had learned , and he could not afford to lose the train . It would be after midnight before he could get back to the city as it was , and he was to leave the city at nine in the morning for his long absence . Someone was waving a lantern as they approached the station . The forest hid the track in both directions , but the roar of the nearing train could now be plainly heard . Walking fast , a trifle in advance , Waldron suddenly turned and spoke over his shoulder : `` I suppose my ears deceive me , but that certainly sounds as if it were coming from the wrong direction . ''