nine o'clock
Nobody ever asked to see them , and nobody ever did see them . '' As I am not easily balked in a design when I am set upon it , I urged to the good lady that this was Christmas-eve ; that Christmas comes but once a year , -- which is unhappily too true , for when it begins to stay with us the whole year round we shall make this earth a very different place ; that I was possessed by the desire to treat the Travellers to a supper and a temperate glass of hot Wassail ; that the voice of Fame had been heard in that land , declaring my ability to make hot Wassail ; that if I were permitted to hold the feast , I should be found conformable to reason , sobriety , and good hours ; in a word , that I could be merry and wise myself , and had been even known at a pinch to keep others so , although I was decorated with no badge or medal , and was not a Brother , Orator , Apostle , Saint , or Prophet of any denomination whatever . In the end I prevailed , to my great joy . It was settled that at nine o'clock that night a Turkey and a piece of Roast Beef should smoke upon the board ; and that I , faint and unworthy minister for once of Master Richard Watts , should preside as the Christmas-supper host of the six Poor Travellers . I went back to my inn to give the necessary directions for the Turkey and Roast Beef , and , during the remainder of the day , could settle to nothing for thinking of the Poor Travellers . When the wind blew hard against the windows , -- it was a cold day , with dark gusts of sleet alternating with periods of wild brightness , as if the year were dying fitfully , -- I pictured them advancing towards their resting-place along various cold roads , and felt delighted to think how little they foresaw the supper that awaited them . I painted their portraits in my mind , and indulged in little heightening touches .