nearly midnight
The roar of London traffic rose from afar , for the night was still . Now and then a taxi whirred through the sloppy street , but there were few wayfarers . Once a boy passed whistling , and the man at the window above stiffened a little , as if in some fashion the careless melody stirred him , but as the whistler turned the corner he relaxed again with his head back , and resumed his attitude of waiting . It was nearly midnight when a taxi hummed up to the flaring lamp-post before the house , and stopped to discharge its occupant . Mordaunt heard the vehicle , but his eyes were closed and he did not trouble to open them . He had laid aside his pipe , and actually seemed to be on the verge of dozing at last . The window-curtain screened him from the view of any in the street , and it did not occur to him that the new arrival could be in any way connected with himself .