midnight
Not even your father and mother can spare you from ruin that way . You have got to fight it out yourself . God helping you . '' Paul looked up at the clock and saw it was after midnight , but on a venture he called up the committee room at the State House . A night janitor answered and informed him that the committee had been gone for over an hour . He went upstairs and found Esther in her sewing room , her face pale and troubled , traces of tears on her cheeks and such a look of real fear on her face that Paul exclaimed , `` Esther ! What is it ? ''