noon
As long as the bars were open , he travelled from one to another , seeking light , safety , and the companionship of human faces ; when these resources failed him , he fell back on the belated baked-potato man ; and at length , still pacing the streets , he was goaded to fraternise with the police . Alas , with what a sense of guilt he conversed with these guardians of the law ; how gladly had he wept upon their ample bosoms ; and how the secret fluttered to his lips and was still denied an exit ! Fatigue began at last to triumph over remorse ; and about the hour of the first milkman , he returned to the door of the mansion ; looked at it with a horrid expectation , as though it should have burst that instant into flames ; drew out his key , and when his foot already rested on the steps , once more lost heart and fled for repose to the grisly shelter of a coffee-shop . It was on the stroke of noon when he awoke . Dismally searching in his pockets , he found himself reduced to half-a-crown ; and when he had paid the price of his distasteful couch , saw himself obliged to return to the Superfluous Mansion . He sneaked into the hall and stole on tiptoe to the cupboard where he kept his money . Yet half a minute , he told himself , and he would be free for days from his obseding lodger , and might decide at leisure on the course he should pursue .