late midnight
he asked , overpowered with a drowsiness that dulled even his thoughts about Nellie and unwilling to walk on to his hotel . `` Yes , sir , '' answered the waiter , a young man who was making preparations to close for the night . `` In half a minute . '' Soon a cabman had finished his late midnight meal and departed . But another passer-by dropped in , who was left over a plate of stew while the waiter led Ned to a narrow stair at the end of the room , passing round a screen behind which a stout , gray-haired man slumbered in an arm chair with all the appearance of being the proprietor . The waiter showed Ned the way with a lighted match , renewed when burnt out . Ned noticed that the papered walls and partitions of the stairway and upper floor were dirty , torn and giving way in patches .