ten o'clock
The city council having determined to cut a street just beside them , and the property all around being in the hands of wealthy and fashionable people , his own proved to be exceedingly valuable . It was a sad day for the old man , as Kinch and his mother insisted that he should give up business , which he did most reluctantly , and Kinch had to be incessantly on the watch thereafter , to prevent him from hiring cellars , and sequestering their old clothes to set up in business again . They were both gone now , and Kinch was his own master , with a well-secured income of a thousand dollars a-year , with a prospect of a large increase . They talked matters over fully , and settled all their arrangements before the time for parting , and then , finding the baby had scrambled into Mrs. Ellis 's lap and gone fast asleep , and that it was long after ten o'clock , each departed , taking their several ways for home . The Fatal Discovery . There is great bustle and confusion in the house of Mr. Bates . Mantua-makers and milliners are coming in at unearthly hours , and consultations of deep importance are being duly held with maiden aunts and the young ladies who are to officiate as bridesmaids at the approaching ceremony .