midnight
This refreshing performance ended , he returned to the hut and dressed . He was in the act of locking the door , preparatory to his journey up to Kennedy 's lodge , when a sack was suddenly thrown over his head from behind , and next moment he found himself pinned to the ground in the clutches of two men . Before he was well aware of what had happened , his feet were tied together , and his arms firmly lashed to his sides . The sack was lifted from his mouth , but not long enough to enable him to shout , for a gag was roughly forced between his teeth ; and then , while one of his captors held his head , the other bandaged his eyes so completely that , had he not known it , he could not have told whether it was mid-day or midnight . Thus , in almost less time than it takes to narrate it , in broad daylight , and on the borders of his own father 's estate , the unfortunate Percy was made captive , without so much as being able to give an alarm or to see the faces of his assailants . He was deposited comfortably on the floor of his own hut , by the side , oh , cruel fate ! of his own machine , and there left to work out any number of problems which might occur to him during the next six hours ; while his custodians , having carefully padlocked the door , retired to a respectful distance among the trees , where they could smoke their pipes in peace , and at the same time keep an eye on the approaches to their young ward 's dungeon .