midnight
Whose happiness could depend on getting that news ? What , in fine , was the secret of the affair ? Larcher could only give it up , and think upon means for the early accomplishment of his part in the matter . He had decided to begin immediately , for his first inquiries would be made of men who kept late hours , and with whose midnight haunts he was acquainted . He stayed in the car till he had entered the region below Fourteenth Street . Getting out , he walked a short distance and into a basement , where he exchanged rain and darkness for bright gaslight , an atmosphere of tobacco smoke mixed with the smell of food and cheap wine , and the noisy talk of a numerous company sitting -- for the most part -- at long tables whereon were the traces of a _ table d'hôte _ dinner . Coffee and claret were still present , not only in cups , bottles , and glasses , but also on the table-cloths .