midnight
There were a good many unlighted doorways along the quay , whilst a street lamp was fixed on a bracket in the wall of the very house which he kept in observation . Finding temporary shelter under various doorways , or against the dank walls of the houses , Blakeney set himself resolutely to a few hours ' weary waiting . A thin , drizzly rain fell with unpleasant persistence , like a damp mist , and the thin blouse which he wore soon became wet through and clung hard and chilly to his shoulders . It was close on midnight when at last he thought it best to give up his watch and to go back to his lodgings for a few hours ' sleep ; but at seven o'clock the next morning he was back again at his post . The porte-cochere of his former lodging-house was not yet open ; he took up his stand close beside it . His woollen cap pulled well over his forehead , the grime cleverly plastered on his hair and face , his lower jaw thrust forward , his eyes looking lifeless and bleary , all gave him an expression of sly villainy , whilst the short clay pipe struck at a sharp angle in his mouth , his hands thrust into the pockets of his ragged breeches , and his bare feet in the mud of the road , gave the final touch to his representation of an out-of-work , ill-conditioned , and supremely discontented loafer . He had not very long to wait .