nearly
midnight
He brought the car to a standstill under the lea of a low ridge of downs , at a point where an old chalk pit reared its white face , glimmering faintly in the darkness . He hazarded a fair guess as to his whereabouts . Whitmansworth must be fifteen or twenty miles ahead . It was nearly midnight now . He would get no lodging even if he went on . He backed the car off the road into the circle of the chalk pit , made as comfortable a resting place as he could with rugs and cushions between the motor and the white wall , and extinguished the lamps . The cool , still night had him to herself , and cradled him to sleep as a mother her child , under the folds of her dark mantle .