midnight
The wolf-hound Grip wagged his tail as Constans passed , and he patted his head , the one single creature in his uncle 's household who might regret his absence on the morrow . Now the way was clear ; he stole off into the darkness , finding no difficulty in scaling the wall , and so was free . The night was misty and starless and the tide on a strong ebb . The voyage down-stream was without incident , and by midnight he had landed within the city lines , but much farther up-town than upon the occasion of his first adventure . His plan was to seek some uninhabited house within convenient distance of the library building and make that his temporary headquarters . He found what he wanted in the block immediately to the westward of the library , and in three or four trips he had transported thither his stock of food and other impedimenta . The boat had leaked badly on the way down the river , and was plainly unseaworthy .