midnight
The poor girl could n't tell for the life of her what to do with such a man , so she would keep on playing the piano and singing to him evening after evening till she was ready to drop . And it was n't as if she had been a strong young woman either . She was thirty , and the climate had been playing the deuce with her . Then -- do n't you know -- Fred had to sit up with them for propriety , and during whole weeks on end never got a single chance to get to bed before midnight . That was not pleasant for a tired man -- was it ? And besides Fred had worries then because his shop did n't pay and he was dropping money fast . He just longed to get away from here and try his luck somewhere else , but for the sake of his sister he hung on and on till he ran himself into debt over his ears -- I can tell you .