midnight
He did not want to stay . He felt that his call was in another place and that he would go there gladly . He wondered why he did not get on the train and be off . One night when he had been late on the road , loitering by fences , hearing the lonely barking of dogs at distant farmhouses , getting the smell of the new-ploughed ground into his nostrils , he came into town and sat down on a low iron fence that ran along by the platform of the railroad station , to wait for the midnight train north . Trains had taken on a new meaning to him since any day might see him on such a train bound into his new life . A man , with two bags in his hands , came on the station platform followed by two women . `` Here , watch these , '' he said to the women , setting the bags upon the platform ; `` I will go for the tickets , '' and disappeared into the darkness .