Eleven o'clock
she asked , trying to shake him out of his mood . The question proved a happy one . For nearly two hours they chatted and smiled and hummed old airs together -- that is to say , Wally hummed them and Mary tried , for , as you know , she could n't sing but could only follow the melody with a sort of a deep note far down in her throat , always pretending that she was n't doing it and shyly laughing when Wally nodded in encouragement and tried to get her to sing up louder . `` Eleven o'clock ! '' he exclaimed at last . `` That 's the first time in three months -- '' Whatever it was , he did n't finish it , but when he bade her good-bye he said in a low voice , `` Young lady , do you know that you played the very Old Ned with my life when you turned me down ? '' But Mary would n't follow him there , either .