midnight
Write to me , Alban , and I shall know how to help your friend . '' He had spoken under a spell of strong excitement , but his message delivered , he fell again to his old quiet manner ; and having exchanged a few commonplaces with the astonished lad plainly intimated that he would be alone . Alban , surprised beyond measure , perceived in his turn that no amount of questioning would help him to a better understanding ; and so , in a state of perplexity which defied expression , he said `` Good night '' and went out into the quiet street . It was some time after midnight when Alban reached Broad Street Station and discovered that the last train for Hampstead had left . A certain uneasiness as to what his new friends would think of him did not deter him from his sudden determination to turn westward and seek out his old haunts . He had warned Richard Gessner that no house would ever make a prisoner of him , and this quick desire for liberty now burned in his veins as a fever . It would be good , he thought , to sleep under the stars once more and to imagine himself that same Alban Kennedy who had not known whither to look for bread -- could it be but five short weeks ago !