nine o'clock
He had excited himself , as well as his listener ; and the inconsiderate manner in which both had yielded up their energies to these enticing images of wealth , contributed largely to increase the evil . At length , exhaustion came to put an end to the scene , which was getting to be dramatic as well as revolting . So conscious was the deacon , on returning home that evening , that his mind was not in such a condition as it behoved him to keep it in on the Lord 's Day , that he was afraid to encounter the placid eye of his devout and single-minded niece . Instead of joining her , and uniting in the services that were customary at that hour , he walked in the adjoining orchard until near nine o'clock . Mammon was uppermost in the place of the Deity , and habit offered too strong a barrier to permit him to bring , as it were , the false god openly into the presence of the true . `` Oh ! mourn not for them , their grief is o'er , Oh !