If such rest could not be obtained all was at an end with
him. He must either find some new means of supporting himself and
his family, or--have done with life and its responsibilities
altogether.
The latter alternative was often enough before him. He seldom
slept for more than two or three consecutive hours in the night,
and the time of wakefulness was often terrible. The various
sounds which marked the stages from midnight to dawn had grown
miserably familiar to him; worst torture to his mind was the
chiming and striking of clocks. Two of these were in general
audible, that of Marylebone parish church, and that of the
adjoining workhouse; the latter always sounded several minutes
after its ecclesiastical neighbour, and with a difference of note
which seemed to Reardon very appropriate--a thin, querulous
voice, reminding one of the community it represented. After lying
awake for awhile he would hear quarters sounding; if they ceased
before the fourth he was glad, for he feared to know what time it
was. If the hour was complete, he waited anxiously for its
number.
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