nearly midnight
Something must have happened to us that night which only the retrospect of years revealed . In that hour Beverly Clarenden lost a year of his life and I gained one . From that time we were no longer little and big to each other -- we were comrades . It must have been nearly midnight when I crept out of bed and slipped into the big room where Uncle Esmond and Jondo sat by the fireplace , talking together . `` Hello , little night-hawk ! Come here and roost , '' Jondo said , opening his arms to me . I slid into their embrace and snuggled my head against his broad shoulder , listening to all that was said .