about midday
I went and stared at nothing in my shaving-glass , at nothing save where an attenuated pigment still remained behind the retina of my eyes , fainter than mist . I had to hang on to the table and press my forehead against the glass . `` It was only by a frantic effort of will that I dragged myself back to the apparatus and completed the process . `` I slept during the forenoon , pulling the sheet over my eyes to shut out the light , and about midday I was awakened again by a knocking . My strength had returned . I sat up and listened and heard a whispering . I sprang to my feet and as noiselessly as possible began to detach the connections of my apparatus , and to distribute it about the room , so as to destroy the suggestions of its arrangement .