midnight
He wandered out into the night ; he could not linger round the station till dawn ; and what profit to him if he did ? Even were he to ransom his trunks , one can scarcely change one 's clothing in a public waiting-room . Somewhere in the distance a great clock chimed a single stroke , freighted sore with melancholy . It knelled the passing of the half-hour after midnight ; a witching hour , when every public shuts up tight , and gentlemen in top-hats and evening dress are doomed to pace the pave till day -LRB- barring they have homes or visible means of support -RRB- -- till day , when pawnshops open and such personal effects as watches and hammered silver cigar-cases may be hypothecated . Sable garments fluttering , Care fell into step with Philip Kirkwood ; Care the inexorable slipped a skeleton arm through his and would not be denied ; Care the jade clung affectionately to his side , refusing to be jilted . `` Ah , you thought you would forget me ? '' chuckled the fleshless lips by his ear .