midnight
He had never seen him excited , hardly ever aroused . He was a man of figures , whose only passion seemed to be the `` music of the spheres . '' A long silence followed , during which Thornton seemed to bend more intently than ever over his eyepiece . The hand of the big clock slipped gradually to midnight . `` There 's something wrong with the clock , '' said Thornton suddenly , and his voice sounded curiously dry , almost unnatural . `` Telephone to the equatorial room for the time . '' Puzzled by Thornton 's manner Evarts did as instructed .