midnight
`` I remember , '' said my father , `` the first masked ball I ever went to when I was a student in Paris . It struck me just as you say , Hal ; everybody was so exactly alike . I was glad to get out into the street and see faces . '' `` But I thought they always unmasked at midnight , '' said the second Mrs. Teidelmann in her soft , languid tones . `` I did not wait , '' explained my father . `` That was a pity , '' she replied . `` I should have been interested to see what they were like , underneath . ''