midnight
he asked sharply . `` That 's the bakehouse , '' Daniel replied , as if surprised at such a question . `` It 's one of their long nights . '' Never , during the brief remainder of his life , did Samuel eat a mouthful of common bread without recalling that midnight apparition . He had lived for half a century , and thoughtlessly eaten bread as though loaves grew ready-made on trees . `` Listen ! '' Daniel commanded him .