midnight
Such , at least , was his creed , some few hours since . His hair will not bristle , therefore , at the stories which -- in times when chimney-corners had benches in them , where old people sat poking into the ashes of the past , and raking out traditions like live coals -- used to be told about this very room of his ancestral house . In fact , these tales are too absurd to bristle even childhood 's hair . What sense , meaning , or moral , for example , such as even ghost-stories should be susceptible of , can be traced in the ridiculous legend , that , at midnight , all the dead Pyncheons are bound to assemble in this parlor ? And , pray , for what ? Why , to see whether the portrait of their ancestor still keeps its place upon the wall , in compliance with his testamentary directions ! Is it worth while to come out of their graves for that ?