midnight
At the end of that time he would have to send for a professional hand , who would cornet the ball with apparently miraculous skill in a few seconds . He got on better with chemistry and photography ; but at last he settled down to electrical engineering , and , giving up the idea of doing everything with his own half-trained hand , kept a skilled man always in his laboratory to help him out . All along there had been a certain love of the marvelous at the bottom of his fancy for inventions . Therefore , though he did not in the least believe in ghosts , he would `` investigate '' spiritualism , and part with innumerable guineas to mediums , slatewriters , clairvoyants , and even of turbaned rascals from the East , who would boldly offer at midnight to bring him out into the back yard and there and then raise the devil for him . And just as his tendency was to magnify the success and utility of his patent purchases , so he would lend himself more or less to gross impostures simply because they interested him . This confirmed his reputation for being a bit of a crank ; and as he had in addition all the restlessness and eccentricity of the active spirits of his class , arising from the fact that no matter what he busied himself with , it never really mattered whether he accomplished it or not , he remained an unsatisfied and -LRB- considering the money he cost -RRB- unsatisfactory specimen of a true man in a false position . Towers Cottage was supposed to be a mere appendage to Carbury Towers , which had been burnt down , to the great relief of its noble owners , in the reign of William IV .