midnight
To his bewildered mind every man who breathed of life was a sleuth sent forth to lay hold of him . He gave the circus -- loved thing of tenderer days -- a wide berth , finding his way to the railway station by outlying streets . His first thought was to board an outbound train , to secrete himself in one of the freight cars . The sudden , overpowering pangs of hunger drove this plan from his mind , combined with the discovery that no train would pass through the town before midnight . Disheartened , sick with despair , he slunk off through the railway yards , taking a roundabout way to the circus grounds . There was money in his purse , -- plenty of it ; but he was afraid to enter an eating-house , or to even approach the `` snack-stand '' on the edge of the circus lot . For a long time he stood afar off in the darkness , his legs trembling , his mouth twitching , his eyes bent with pathetic intentness upon the single pie and hot sandwich stand that remained near the sideshow tent , presided over by a kind-faced , sleepy old man in spectacles .