midnight
But she seemed to look at the dusty trees and the worn greens without really seeing them . In the afternoon she called on friends , and had dinner at home with her aunt , and then went to a theatre . The musical comedy was good , but the almost unbearable heat and the vitiated air spoiled her enjoyment . That night upon arriving home at midnight she stepped out of the taxi , and involuntarily , without thought , looked up to see the stars . But there were no stars . A murky yellow-tinged blackness hung low over the city . Carley recollected that stars , and sunrises and sunsets , and untainted air , and silence were not for city dwellers .