midnight
Gaining the street entrance , he drew an immense sigh of relief , opened it eagerly and fairly leaped outside to the steps . As the door shut behind him he thought he heard a sudden explosive laugh , but it meant nothing to him as he hurried along blindly , increasing his pace at every stride . At the corner of Third avenue he stopped and consulted his watch . It was midnight ! Travers Gladwin scaled the great staircase three steps at a time . Stumbling against a divan he threw himself across it and lay for a few moments stretched on his back with every muscle relaxed . He felt as if he had been buffeted by mighty tempests and overwhelmed by cataclysms .