midnight
`` Wait until you have heard the facts . Last week , on Friday , there was entrusted to my son 's care for delivery a heavy manila envelope containing fifty thousand dollars ' worth of negotiable bonds . It was a matter of vital importance that these be delivered within a specified time . Ignoring this fact , he pocketed the bonds , and , in company with a number of his acquaintances , indulged in a drunken spree which culminated after midnight in a disgraceful street scene in the Broadway theatre district . `` The following morning , when I confronted him , he flouted me to my face , whereupon I virtually disinherited him . Not wishing to turn him away penniless , I handed him a check for a considerable amount which he saw fit to destroy melodramatically in my presence . Upon my request for the return of the securities , he handed me an envelope identical with that in which the bonds had been placed .