midnight
You can charge the difference up to me . '' So , to relieve Bill , I acceded , and we collaborated a letter that ran this way : _ Ebenezer Dorset , Esq. : _ We have your boy concealed in a place far from Summit . It is useless for you or the most skilful detectives to attempt to find him . Absolutely , the only terms on which you can have him restored to you are these : We demand fifteen hundred dollars in large bills for his return ; the money to be left at midnight to-night at the same spot and in the same box as your reply -- as hereinafter described . If you agree to these terms , send your answer in writing by a solitary messenger to-night at half-past eight o'clock . After crossing Owl Creek , on the road to Poplar Cove , there are three large trees about a hundred yards apart , close to the fence of the wheat field on the right-hand side . At the bottom of the fence-post , opposite the third tree , will be found a small pasteboard box .