midnight
Now they have almost stopped , going at only seventy miles the hour . The long line of depot lamps are flashing along the track . On the platform of the station are the lovers who are waiting for their betrothed , and parents who have come down to greet their children , returned with a fortune , and wives who have not been able to eat or drink since their spouses went away three weeks before . As the cushioned train flashes into the depot and stops , wedding bells peal , and the gong of many banquets sounds , and white arms are flung about necks , reckless of mistake , and innumerable percussions of affection echo through the depot , so crisp and loud that they wake the conductor , who thought that the boisterous smack was on his own cheek , but finds that he is nothing but a bachelor railroad man , with a lantern , at midnight getting out into a snow bank . Application : Get an easy position when you sleep , if you have any choice between angels and gorgons . At midnight , seizing a chair , I ran into the next room , resolving to kill , at the first stroke , the ruffian who was murdering a member of my household . But there was no ruffian .