midnight
They broke up into groups , and Tom and Matty got their first real chance for talk since they had parted the night before . No ! Tom had found no clue at the Navy Department . And although Eben Ricketts had been good as gold , and had stayed and worked with Tom till long after midnight , Eben had only worked to show good-will , for Eben had not the least faith that there was any clue there . Eben had said that if old Mr. Whilthaugh , who knew the archive rooms through and through , had not been turned out , they could do in fifteen minutes what had cost them six hours , and that old Mr. Whilthaugh , without looking , could tell whether it was worth while to look . But old Mr. Whilthaugh had been turned out , and Eben , even , did not know precisely what had become of him . He thought he had gone back into Pennsylvania , where his wife came from , but he did not know .