midnight
The professor smiled blandly and appeared silent , but a voice that seemed to come from the bakery underneath the hall , was heard to remark in a deep melodious tone : `` He has something better . '' Quinsey was superintendent of what was known as the night set in the registry division of the Cincinnati post-office , and his hours of labor were from 10:30 P. M. to 7 A. M . In this set were employed six or seven clerks who worked under the superintendant 's direction , and who performed practically the same kind of work that he did . It was their duty to properly record all registered matter that arrived in Cincinnati between 4 P. M. and midnight from the various railroad lines centering there , rebill it and pouch it in the through registry pouches to be dispatched in the morning . There were something like thirty bills to make out , and the same number of pouches to properly close and send out . When the mails were running heavy the clerks never had a minute to spare , but when they were light , as they frequently were one or two nights each week , there was some opportunity for sociability and innocent amusement . On these occasions Quinsey would sometimes tell the boys how easy it was for people to be mistaken ; how much quicker was the hand than the eye ; how it was that frequently things were not what they appeared ; how easy it was to deceive the keenest intellect by doing something different than your actions would indicate , and how figures and objects are materialized and made to do their master 's bidding .