midnight
His tall athletic figure was still conspicuous for the lithe strength that had made him an All-Western tackle less than two years ago . Standing beside Blake 's husky figure , Helen Lawton looked like a tiny , very perfect , blonde doll , with an exquisitely molded face framed in curly bobbed hair that was the clear golden-amber hue of orange honey . There was a diamond sparkling on the ring finger of the girl 's slim left hand , placed there by Blake . It was well after midnight , and the only other passenger waiting on the station was a burly chap leaning against one of the white pillars on the other side of the platform . After a casual glance at the fellow , with his derby hat shoved far back from a low forehead , his blatantly conspicuous clothing , and the suspicious bulge under one arm-pit , Blake had mentally set him down as a minor gangster , probably a strong-arm man for some beer mob . Blake and Helen had been standing there but a few minutes when the strange sound first became audible . For a moment Blake thought it was merely the rumbling roar of an express approaching far down the tunnel .