midnight
We must have passed a score of taverns at least ; of that I have assured myself by many a later exploration of Portsmouth : and in those days a Portsmouth tavern never closed day or night , save for the death of a landlord , nor always for that . But to-night a murmur at most distinguished it from the other houses in the street . Meliar-Ann solved the puzzle for us , with a wise nod of the head -- `` There 's a press out ; or elst they 're expecting one , '' she said . I heard a distant clock chiming for midnight as we followed her along this row of houses . Ahead of us a door opened , throwing a thin line of light upon the roadway , and was closed again softly , after the person within had stood listening -LRB- as it seemed to me -RRB- for five seconds or so . Meliar-Ann started suddenly in front of us , spreading her arms out , then slowly backwards , and so motioning us to halt under the shadow of the wall . Obeying , we saw her tiptoe forwards , till , coming to the door which had just been closed , she crept close and tapped on it softly , yet in a way that struck me as being deliberate .