midnight
Beneath its stalls at night , many a ` lodger ' often slumbered ; and every Sunday morning it was the theatre of a lively and amusing scene , wherein was performed the renowned pastime of ` niggers dancing for eels . ' All the unsavory fish that had been accumulated during the week , was thus disposed of , being given to such darkies as won the most applause in the science of the ` heel and toe . ' The sport used to attract hundreds of spectators , and the rum shops in the vicinity did a good business . Suppose it to be midnight ; let us enter the All Night House , and take a view . We find the place crowded with about forty men and boys , of all ages , conditions and complexions . Here is the veteran loafer , who had not slept in a bed for years -- his clothes smelling of the grease and filth of the market stalls ; here is the runaway apprentice , and here the dissipated young man who has been ` locked out , ' and has come here to take lodgings . The company are all seated upon low stools ; some are bending forward in painful attitudes of slumber ; others are vainly trying to sit upright , but , overcome by sleep , they pitch forward , and recover themselves just in time to avoid falling on the floor .