midnight
Mrs. Morris , for such was the lady 's name , proved an excellent travelling companion . She was not only a splendid conversationalist , but also she knew how to procure warm tea from the porter . Soon she and Nancy were quite at ease with each other , Nancy contributing her share at the entertaining , with her homely gossip of the Monk Road and its people . The baby was her chief solace , however , and its mother only had it during the midnight hours , so constant a nurse was she . And the atom itself was tractable beyond its own mother 's belief . The process of making up the beds in the sleeper gave Nancy an unpleasant half-hour . She did not admire the masculine performances of the porter .