eight o'clock
This was only a temporary position , and would be filled by either Winn or Solon after a mule had been obtained for the treadmill . Sabella 's real duty was to dress Don Blossom , and see that he went on the stage at the proper time . The hour for giving these arrangements a public test finally arrived . By eight o'clock the exhibition hall of the _ Whatnot _ was packed with an audience that contained a number of raftsmen and steamboat hands from the water-front . These were good-naturedly noisy , and indulged in cat-calls , stampings , and other manifestations of their impatience for the curtain to rise . An occasional lull in the tumult allowed the droning notes of the `` Sweet By-and-By , '' then new and extremely popular , to be heard , as they were slowly ground out from the hand-organ by the invisible Sabella . At length they ceased ; the little drop-curtain was slowly rolled up so as to expose the first picture , and Cap'n Cod , pointer in hand , in all the glory of the blue swallow-tail with brass buttons , stepped on the stage .