midnight
`` I do n't know , Sallie , '' said Frank , when he had given all the eagerly demanded particulars about the child 's father , -- `` I do n't know whether I should want many such holidays as this , in the course of the summer . On the whole , I think I 'd better overwork myself and not take any relaxation , if I mean to live long . And yet I 'm not sure that the day 's been altogether a failure , though all our purposes of enjoyment have miscarried . I did n't plan to find a lost child here , when I got home , and I 'm afraid I have n't had always the most Christian feeling towards him ; but he 's really the saving grace of the affair ; and if this were a little comedy I had been playing , I should turn him to account with the jaded audience , and advancing to the foot-lights , should say , with my hand on my waistcoat , and a neat bow , that although every hope of the day had been disappointed , and nothing I had meant to do had been done , yet the man who had ended at midnight by restoring a lost child to the arms of its father , must own that , in spite of adverse fortune , he had enjoyed A Day 's Pleasure . '' -LSB- Illustration : `` A gaunt figure of forlorn and curious smartness . '' -RSB- It was long past the twilight hour , which has been already mentioned as so oppressive in suburban places , and it was even too late for visitors , when a resident , whom I shall briefly describe as a Contributor to the magazines , was startled by a ring at his door . As any thoughtful person would have done upon the like occasion , he ran over his acquaintance in his mind , speculating whether it were such or such a one , and dismissing the whole list of improbabilities , before he laid down the book he was reading , and answered the bell .