midnight
He could never precisely understand how it happened , and it never failed to annoy him heavily . After bidding the Master good morning he went straight to Brother Bonaday 's lodging . Brother Bonaday , now fairly convalescent , was up and dressed and seated in his arm-chair , whiling away the morning with a newspaper . In days of health he had been a diligent reader of dull books ; had indeed -LRB- according to his friend Copas -- but the story may be apocryphal -RRB- been known to sit up past midnight with an antiquated _ Annual Report of the Registrar-General _ , borrowed from the shelf of Brother Inchbald , whose past avocations had included the registering of Births , Deaths and Marriages somewhere in Wiltshire . But of late , as sometimes happens in old age , books had lost their savour for him , and he preferred to let his eyes rest idly on life 's passing show as reflected in the _ camera obscura _ of a halfpenny paper . He rose respectfully as the Chaplain entered . `` Be seated , please , '' said Mr. Colt .