midnight
`` Is there a loophole here ? '' `` Just what was the meaning of that despatch ? '' After the meal the papers , contracts , statistics and reports which he had brought with him in his Gladstone bag were to be studied . As often as not Gretry called , and the two , shut in the library , talked , discussed , and planned till long after midnight . Then at last , when he had shut the front door upon his lieutenant and turned to face the empty , silent house , came the moment 's reaction . The tired brain flagged and drooped ; exhaustion , like a weight of lead , hung upon his heels . But somewhere a hall clock struck , a single , booming note , like a gong -- like the signal that would unchain the tempest in the Pit to-morrow morning .