midnight
During the afternoon he had not failed in his punctuality ; two more neat witnesses to this lay on the door-mat beneath the letter-slit of Billy 's room , And at the appointed hour after dinner a third joined them , making five . John found these cards when he came home to go to bed , and picked them up and stuck them ornamentally in Billy 's looking-glass , as a greeting when Billy should return , The eight o'clock visit was the last that Oscar paid to the locked door , He remained through the evening in his own room , studious , contented , unventilated , indulging in his thick notes , and also in the thought of Billy 's and Bertie 's eleventh-hour scholarship , `` Even with another day , '' he told himself , `` those young men could not have got fifty per cent , '' In those times this was the passing mark . To-day I believe you get an A , or a B , or some other letter denoting your rank . In due time Oscar turned out his gas and got into his bed ; and the clocks of Massachusetts struck midnight . Mrs. Diggs of the Bird-in-Hand had retired at eleven , furious with rage , but firm in dignity in spite of a sudden misadventure . Her hair , being the subject of a sporting event , had remained steadily fixed in Billy 's mind , -- steadily fixed throughout an entertainment which began at an early hour to assume the features of a celebration . One silver-fizz before dinner is nothing ; but dinner did not come at once , and the boys were thirsty .