midnight
His mind was inclined to run , even as mine had run on Saturday , on military details . He thought of all those silent , expectant guns , of the suddenly nomadic countryside ; he tried to imagine `` boilers on stilts '' a hundred feet high . There were one or two cartloads of refugees passing along Oxford Street , and several in the Marylebone Road , but so slowly was the news spreading that Regent Street and Portland Place were full of their usual Sunday-night promenaders , albeit they talked in groups , and along the edge of Regent 's Park there were as many silent couples `` walking out '' together under the scattered gas lamps as ever there had been . The night was warm and still , and a little oppressive ; the sound of guns continued intermittently , and after midnight there seemed to be sheet lightning in the south . He read and re-read the paper , fearing the worst had happened to me . He was restless , and after supper prowled out again aimlessly . He returned and tried in vain to divert his attention to his examination notes .