Eight o'clock
But Betty only gave him the tips of her fingers in reply as she swept a graceful courtesy . Was it the slight pressure of his hand which accompanied the farewell that made Geoffrey spring gayly into the sleigh and drive off with a half-boyish , half-triumphant smile ? The De Lancey mansion , then one of the most famous houses in New York , was on the Bloomingdale Road , and the drive out Bowery Lane ran through meadow-land and green trees in summer , but over hard-packed snow and ice in winter , for it was part of the highroad to Albany . So both Grandma Effingham and Clarissa ordered the fur muffs and hot-water bottles for the feet placed carefully in the sleigh , which Pompey brought to the door just as the night watch went down the street , crying in his slow , bell-like tones , `` Eight o'clock , and all 's w-e-ll ! '' Betty , standing muffled in long cloak and fur hood , on the steps of the house , said to herself , with a thrill of excitement , `` All 's well ; please God I may say as much when midnight sounds to-night . '' The sleigh was a large , roomy one , with back and front seats , and its big hood was drawn up and extended like a roof over the top , covering the heads of its occupants , but open at the sides . Clarissa was seated first , and well wrapped in the bearskin robes which adorned the sleigh , and then Betty tripped lightly down to have her little feet bestowed in a capacious foot-muff , as she carefully tucked her new gown around her and sat beside Clarissa .