a quarter after
midnight
In short , palatial surroundings had too obviously destroyed in his wife and daughters all that capacity for happiness in a hovel of which Mr. Terwilliger had been so proud , and concerning which he had so eloquently spoken to Baron Bangletop 's agent , and he now found himself in the position of Damocles . The hall was leased for a term , entertainment had been provided for the county with lavish hand ; but success was dependent entirely upon his ability to keep a cook , his family having departed from their republican principles , and the history of the house was dead against a successful issue . So he decided that , after all , it was better that the ghost should be allowed to remain quiescent , and he uttered no word of complaint . It was just as well , too , that Mr. Terwilliger held his peace , and refrained from addressing a complaining missive to the agent of Bangletop Hall ; for before a message of that nature could have reached the person addressed , its contents would have been misleading , for at a quarter after midnight on the morning of the date set for the first of a series of grand banquets to the county folk , there came from the kitchen of Bangletop Hall a quick succession of shrieks that sent the three Misses Terwilliger into hysterics , and caused Hankinson J. Terwilliger 's sole remaining lock to stand erect . Mrs. Terwilliger did not hear the shrieks , owing to a lately acquired habit of hearing nothing that proceeded from below stairs . The first impulse of Terwilliger _ pere _ was to dive down under the bedclothes , and endeavor to drown the fearful sound by his own labored breathing , but he never yielded to first impulses . So he awaited the second , which came simultaneously with a second series of shrieks and a cry for help in the unmistakable voice of the cook ; a lady , by-the-way , who had followed the Terwilliger fortunes ever since the Terwilligers began to have fortunes , and whose first capacity in the family had been the dual one of mistress of the kitchen and confidante of madame .