nine o'clock
Craig and I met at the appointed time . He had a lot of paraphernalia with him , and it did not add to our comfort as we sped back , but it was n't much over half an hour before we again found ourselves nearing Great Neck . Instead of going directly back to Fletcherwood , however , Craig had told the chauffeur to stop at the plant of the local electric light and power company , where he asked if he might see the record of the amount of current used the night before . The curve sprawled across the ruled surface of the sheet by the automatic registering-needle was irregular , showing the ups and downs of the current , rising sharply from sundown and gradually declining after nine o'clock , as the lights went out . Somewhere between eleven and twelve o'clock , however , the irregular fall of the curve was broken by a quite noticeable upward twist . Craig asked the men if that usually happened . They were quite sure that the curve as a rule went gradually down until twelve o'clock , when the power was shut off .