midnight
`` I was in a large hall , empty as a vault and almost as desolate . Blank doors met my eyes in all directions , with here and there an open passageway . I felt myself in a maze . I had no idea which was the door I sought , and it is not pleasant to turn unaccustomed knobs in a shut-up house at midnight , with the rain pouring in torrents and the wind making pandemonium in a half-dozen great chimneys . `` But it had to be done , and I went at it in regular order till I came to a little narrow one opening on the turret-stair . This gave me my bearings . Sears ' room adjoined the staircase .