midnight
What was I to do ? I had not secured my money , but I had this additional misfortune on my conscience : I had wrecked the life of a fair young girl , and had the hitherto spotless page of my dealings with my fellow-creatures , stamped with a foul indelible stain , that cried shame and retribution on my whole generation . I fled -- of course -- when the hasty realization of my misdeeds forced itself into my mind . I was frantic and desperate as I tried to make my way through the thicket , and at last on arriving at the village , I took the midnight train and travelled to a town in the State of Maine . From this place I wrote to my creditors , confessing my financial difficulties , and begging of them not to seek me out , nor take any further interest in me , as I had resolved to begin my blighted life over again , in a strange land among strange people . I tried O , Elersley ! God knows how hard , to earn honest bread , but I did not deserve success , and so God refused to bless my labor .