midnight
Or , when a good man has departed , his distant friend should be conscious of an electric thrill , as from the world of happy spirits , telling him ` Your dear friend is in bliss ! ' Or , to an absent husband , should come tidings thus ` An immortal being , of whom you are the father , has this moment come from God ! ' and immediately its little voice would seem to have reached so far , and to be echoing in his heart . But for these poor rogues , the bank-robbers , -- who , after all , are about as honest as nine people in ten , except that they disregard certain formalities , and prefer to transact business at midnight rather than ` Change-hours , -- and for these murderers , as you phrase it , who are often excusable in the motives of their deed , and deserve to be ranked among public benefactors , if we consider only its result , -- for unfortunate individuals like these , I really can not applaud the enlistment of an immaterial and miraculous power in the universal world-hunt at their heels ! '' `` You ca n't , hey ? '' cried the old gentleman , with a hard look . `` Positively , no ! ''