midnight
I went back to the inn I was staying at , and asked about it : but I could scarcely make them understand what I meant , and there was certainly no such chime in that neighbourhood . Then I felt it was a message sent specially to me , and I made my man pack up my things , and then I dismissed him , and started at once for Morningquest alone . It was a long journey , and although I travelled with all possible speed , I did not arrive until nearly forty-eight hours later . It was close on midnight then , and the first thing I heard , when I found myself alone in my room at the hotel , was the chime itself . Have you ever noticed -- or is it only my fancy ? -- that it seems to strike louder at midnight , and with greater intensity of expression , as we ourselves strike final chords ? It sounded so to me then , and suggested something -- I ca n't tell what , I ca n't define it ; but something that changed the current of my thoughts , and made me feel I had done right to come .