midday
In cases like these the panic can not be allayed by words . As long as the funds held out the checks and notes were paid over the counter ; but this could not go on . Mr. Clifford himself was in the dark as to the state of affairs , and did not know how his credit stood . Soon after midday the funds were exhausted , and with the utmost difficulty the bank was cleared and the doors closed . But the crowd did not disperse ; rather it grew denser as the news spread like wildfire that the Old Bank had stopped ! It was at the moment that the bank doors were closed that Phebe turned into Whitefriars Road . She had taken a train from Upchurch , leaving her father to return home alone with the empty wagon .