midnight
Yet Sam was able to do things with them that Ellerbee could not conceive . Fenwick wondered just who was responsible for the crystals . And he resolved that some day , when and if Baker pulled out of this , he would learn something more about Sam Atkins . Time moved beyond midnight and into the early morning hours of the day , but this meant nothing to William Baker . He was in the midst of eternity . Because the old pattern was there , and the ancient memories were clear , his reconstruction moved at a pace that was limited only by the materials available . When these grew scarce , Sam Atkins showed him how to break down and utilize other structures that could be rebuilt leisurely at a later time .