midnight before
A strange foreboding overwhelmed him . The bewildering tinsel of the stage no longer diverted , and he would have been astonished to analyze the reason why . As the last curtain fell and Dennis was no longer able to adjust his gloomy contemplation to incongruous orchestration , he hastened from the theater , scrambled down the precipitate stairs and hastened to The Stag . It was midnight before he slept , and scarcely morning when he awoke . He dressed himself like an automaton , and breakfasted like an anchorite . He left the hotel without his personal knowledge , and traversed half the length of Broadway without volition . His mind was making the visit in advance of the appointed time , and his torpid body alone observed the social usages .