midnight
`` It 's because he 's so evil that you pity him ; it 's because of that that I 'm sorry for him . It 's because we know that he must be broken upon the wheel before he realizes the vile use he has made of his power that we are sorry for him . Why , Sylvia , he 's the worst foe we have -- all of us who want to do what we call the great things -- ease the burdens of the poor , make government honest , catch the gleam we seek ! Even poor Allen , when he stands on the Monument steps at midnight and spouts to me about the Great Experiment , feels what Morton Bassett ca n't be made to feel . '' `` But he may yet see it ; even he may come to see it , '' murmured Sylvia . `` He 's a hard , stubborn brute ; it 's in the lines of his back -- I was studying him on the boat this evening , and my eyes followed him up the steps after they dropped him at his dock . It 's in those strong , iron hands of his .