midnight
That night he thought of a pair of blue , innocent eyes which once looked pleadingly in his -- of two tiny arms that were once wound fondly around his neck . Those eyes haunted him into the misty realm of dreams , where myriads of little arms were stretched out to him ; and he turned restlessly on his pillow . Ah , Flint , there is an invisible and powerful spirit in the heart of every man that _ will _ speak . It whispers to the criminal in his cell ; and the downy pillows and sumptuous drapery around the couch of Wealth can not keep it away at midnight . There is not a house but has its skeleton . There is a ghastly one in Flint 's . The silvery lips in Trinity steeple chime the hour of eleven ; St. Paul 's catch it up , and hosts of belfrys toss the hour to and fro like a shuttle-cork .