midnight
Judge Granger , after making a most eloquent , lucid , and brilliant speech which had been unduly prolonged by his patience in replying to questions addressed by the disturbing element , had found his time for boarding the regular train so curtailed that he had but a few minutes in which to reach the station . He had very courteously asked young Jones if he could drive him thither , there having been an unfortunate lack of foresight in providing an equipage for his return . Jones drove him to the station , where , to the Judge 's distress , he learned that , owing to the storm , there would be no train through for an indefinite time . Having other highly important engagements , he found it necessary to drive to Mountain City , where he could be more certain of catching a train near midnight . `` All those who are familiar with the great punctiliousness and responsibility of Judge Woodworth-Granger will therefore not be surprised to learn that , despite all the fatigues of the day , and the hardships of such traveling , he courageously braved the blizzard , fearless in his sense of duty to be performed . That he made such a difficult night drive merely to keep his pledged word and engagements , when others might have quailed , or accepted the storm as sufficient excuse for remaining comfortably in shelter , is in itself a sufficient tribute to the sterling worth of this distinguished man 's character . He must have inherited from those ancesters of his , who with bleeding feet trudged through the snows of Valley Forge , some of that patriotism and high fealty to duty which has ever been the stamp of the true American .