midnight
What congratulations were exchanged among the inmates at the Golden Key , when they were left alone ; what an overflowing of joy and happiness there was among them ; how incapable it was of expression in Barnaby 's own person ; and how he went wildly from one to another , until he became so far tranquillised , as to stretch himself on the ground beside his mother 's couch and fall into a deep sleep ; are matters that need not be told . And it is well they happened to be of this class , for they would be very hard to tell , were their narration ever so indispensable . Before leaving this bright picture , it may be well to glance at a dark and very different one which was presented to only a few eyes , that same night . The scene was a churchyard ; the time , midnight ; the persons , Edward Chester , a clergyman , a grave-digger , and the four bearers of a homely coffin . They stood about a grave which had been newly dug , and one of the bearers held up a dim lantern , -- the only light there -- which shed its feeble ray upon the book of prayer . He placed it for a moment on the coffin , when he and his companions were about to lower it down . There was no inscription on the lid .