half after
midnight
Yet the desire was so strong that only the thought of you and your dear , faithful eyes kept me from charging like a wild elephant into a Pullman office and getting a berth to New York . '' Enoch dropped his pen and stared long at the only picture in his room , a beautiful Moran painting of Bright Angel trail . Finally , he rose and turned off the light . When Jonas listened at the door at half after midnight , the sound of Enoch 's steady , regular breathing sent that faithful soul complacently to bed . `` If only someone had taught me ethics as Christ taught them , while I was still a little boy , I would be a finer citizen , now . '' -- _ Enoch 's Diary _ . It rained the next day and the Secretary of the Interior and the British Ambassador did not attempt the proposed ride .