Eight o'clock
The families of the members of the club were necessarily in the secret , and watched their exit with considerable laughter from behind blinds . But to the rest of the villagers it has never ceased to be a puzzle who those elderly strangers were who appeared that evening and were never before or since visible . For once the Argus-eyed curiosity of a Yankee village , compared with which French or Austrian police are easy to baffle , was fairly eluded . Eight o'clock was the hour at which the old folks ' party began , and the reader will need a fresh introduction to the company which was assembled at that time in Mary Fellows 's parlor . Mary sat by her grandmother , who from time to time regarded her in a half-puzzled manner , as if it required an effort of her reasoning powers to reassure her that the effect she saw was an illusion . The girl 's brown hair was gathered back under a lace cap , and all that appeared outside it was thickly powdered . She wore spectacles , and the warm tint of her cheeks had given place to the opaque saffron hue of age .