midnight
Jim was sitting with Nancy on his knee , her head against his shoulder , Sally at his side , her face alight with some inner joy . Before the knock came to the door Jim had just said , `` Why do your eyes shine so , Sally ? What 's in your mind ? '' She had been about to answer , to say to him what had been swelling her heart with pride , though she had not meant to tell him what he had forgotten -- not till midnight . But the figure that entered the room , a big man with deep-set eyes , a man of power who had carried everything before him in the battle of life , answered for her . `` You have won the stake , Jim , '' he said , in a hoarse voice . `` You and she have won the stake , and I 've brought it -- brought it . ''