midnight
He must either find some new means of supporting himself and his family , or -- have done with life and its responsibilities altogether . The latter alternative was often enough before him . He seldom slept for more than two or three consecutive hours in the night , and the time of wakefulness was often terrible . The various sounds which marked the stages from midnight to dawn had grown miserably familiar to him ; worst torture to his mind was the chiming and striking of clocks . Two of these were in general audible , that of Marylebone parish church , and that of the adjoining workhouse ; the latter always sounded several minutes after its ecclesiastical neighbour , and with a difference of note which seemed to Reardon very appropriate -- a thin , querulous voice , reminding one of the community it represented . After lying awake for awhile he would hear quarters sounding ; if they ceased before the fourth he was glad , for he feared to know what time it was . If the hour was complete , he waited anxiously for its number .