a quarter after midnight
From a very simple fact . Abel here has been to inquire , among other things , if Mr. Crane remembers the tune we were playing at the great house when he came down the main street from visiting old widow Walker . Fortunately he does , for the trip , trip , trip in it struck his fancy , and he has found himself humming it over more than once since . Well , that waltz was played by us at a quarter after midnight , which fixes the time of the encounter at Mrs. Webb 's gateway pretty accurately . But , as you will soon see , it was ten minutes to one before James Zabel knocked at Loton 's door . How do I know this ? By the same method of reasoning by which I determined the time of Mr. Crane 's encounter .