midnight
In fact , he thought but little about it any more . The whole thing had become an empty , hopeless formality with him . He knew at last that he was looking for the thing he would never find ; that in a cityful where every man had his place he was a misfit with none . With his dull brain dimly conscious of that one idea , he plodded homeward in the midnight hour . He had been on the go since early morning , and excepting some lunch from the saloon counters , had eaten nothing . The lamp burned dimly in the room where May sat poring yet over her books , waiting for papa . When he came in she looked up and smiled , but saw by his look , as he hung up his hat , that there was no good news , and returned with a sigh to her book .