twelve
o'clock
Some folks think they ca n't be happy without they 're getting outside o ' suthin ' , and my directors down at ` Frisco ca n't do any business without a dinner . Take some champagne , to begin with . '' He opened a bottle , and filled two tumblers . `` It 's past twelve o'clock , old man , so here 's a merry Christmas to you , and both of us ez is here . And here 's another to our families -- ez is n't . '' They both drank their wine stolidly . The rain beat against the windows sharply , but without the hollow echoes of the house on the hill .