midnight
Of course apples were bobbed for , a hat pin was run through them to prod the seeds for the true lover 's heart , and they were hung upon strings to be caught in one 's teeth -LRB- the apples , _ not _ the hearts -RRB- if luckily one did not get one 's nose bumped as they swung back . Melted lead was poured through a key into cold water to take the mysterious form which would reveal the occupation , or profession , of the future _ He _ , and Lily Pearl was thrown into an ecstasy by having _ her _ sputtering metal take very distinctly the form of a ship . _ And that house party `` bid '' not even hinted at yet ! _ They walked downstairs backward , looking into a mirror to discover the particular masculine face which would fill their live 's mirrors , though , unhappily some of the potency of the charm was lost because it could not be done upon the witching stroke of midnight . Dumb cakes were made , _ his _ initials pricked in the dough , while in perfect silence the cakes were baked on the laundry steam dryer , joy and rapture descending upon the fortunate she if the initials did not vanish in the baking . A ball of twine was thrown out of the kitchen window , but when the thrower hurried out to find the ardent one who had so promptly snatched it up and fled , she discovered Horatio Hannibal Harrison beating a hasty retreat . He had been playing `` Peeping Tom '' and the ball had caught him squarely upon his woolly crown .