midnight
He went without cuffs , and wore old and frayed collars , and washed his solitary necktie until it was threadbare , and lived upon prunes and crackers , and gave up the gas-stove in his room -- and still he could scarcely manage to get together the weekly rent . He studied the magazines in the libraries , and racked his wits for new ideas to interest their editors . He haunted editorial-rooms until his presence became a burden , and he brought new agonies and humiliations upon himself . He would part from Corydon in the afternoon , and shut himself in his room ; and sitting in bed to keep warm , he would work until midnight at some new variety of pot-boiler . After which he would go out to walk and clear his brain -- and even then , exhausted as he was , his vision would come to him again , wonderful and soul-shaking . So he would walk on , and go back to write until nearly dawn at something he really loved . Section 3 .