Two o'clock
Our present purpose , by the reader 's leave , and in his company , is to violate Doctor Hiero Glyphic 's retirement , as he lies asleep in bed . Nor shall we stop at his bedside ; we mean to penetrate deep into the darksome caves of his memory , and to drag forth thence sundry odd-looking secrets , which shall blink and look strangely in the light of discovery ; -- little thought their keeper that our eyes should ever behold them ! Yet will he not resent our , intrusion ; it is twenty years ago , -- and he lies asleep . Two o'clock sounds from the neighboring steeple of the Old South Church , as we noiselessly enter the chamber , -- noiselessly , for the hush of the past is about us . We scarcely distinguish anything at first ; the moon has set on the other side of the hotel , and perhaps , too , some of the dimness of those twenty intervening years affects our eyesight . By degrees , however , objects begin to define themselves ; the bed shows doubtfully white , and that dark blot upon the pillow must be the face of our sleeping man . It is turned towards the window ; the mouth is open ; probably the good Doctor is snoring , albeit , across this distance of time , the sound fails to reach us .