four o'clock in the morning
`` The less said about her the better . She came back in a terrible state about something or other , ran in and up to your room , and out again . I tried to tell her her mother was n't so well , but she looked as if she did n't hear me . '' It was four o'clock in the morning when Willy Cameron located Edith . He had gone to the pharmacy and let himself in , intending to telephone , but the card on the door , edged with black , gave him a curious sense of being surrounded that night by death , and he stood for a moment , unwilling to begin for fear of some further tragedy . In that moment , what with reaction from excitement and weariness , he had a feeling of futility , of struggling to no end . One fought on , and in the last analysis it was useless .