eleven o'clock
`` I jest happened to come along , '' replied the other , drowsily ; then , with a portentous yawn , he asked : `` Ai n't ye goin ' to bed ? '' `` No ; Parker would n't allow it . '' `` Well , '' observed William , with another yawn , which bade fair to expose the veritable soul of him , `` I d'know how ye stand it . It 's closte on eleven o'clock . Good-night . '' John went up the steps , singing aloud : `` For to-night we 'll merry , merry be , For to-night we 'll merry , merry be , '' and stopped on the sagging platform at the top of the stairs and gave the moon good-night with a wave of the hand and friendly laughter . At that it suddenly struck him that he was twenty-nine years of age ; that he had laughed a great deal that evening ; that he had laughed and laughed over things not in the least humorous , like an excited schoolboy making his first formal call ; that he had shaken hands with Miss Briscoe when he left her , as if he should never see her again ; that he had taken Miss Sherwood 's hand twice in one very temporary parting ; that he had shaken the judge 's hand five times , and William 's four !