About two A.M.
A national enterprise was at stake . The whole city , high and low , the quays bordering the Patapsco , the ships lying in the basins , disgorged a crowd drunk with joy , gin , and whisky . Every one chattered , argued , discussed , disputed , applauded , from the gentleman lounging upon the barroom settee with his tumbler of sherry-cobbler before him down to the waterman who got drunk upon his `` knock-me-down '' in the dingy taverns of Fell Point . About two A.M. , however , the excitement began to subside . President Barbicane reached his house , bruised , crushed , and squeezed almost to a mummy . Hercules could not have resisted a similar outbreak of enthusiasm . The crowd gradually deserted the squares and streets .