an hour after midnight
It might easily have been the growl of an animal . A long time passed . Naked , four-footed , Vandover ran back and forth the length of the room . By an hour after midnight the sky was clear , all the stars were out , the moon a thin , low-swinging scimitar , set behind the black mass of the roofs of the city , leaving a pale bluish light that seemed to come from all quarters of the horizon . As the great stillness grew more and more complete , the persistent puffing of the slender tin stack , the three gay and joyous little noises , each sounding like a note of discreet laughter interrupted by a cough , became clear and distinct . Inside the room there was no sound except the persistent patter of something four-footed going up and down . At length even this sound ceased abruptly .