midnight
The agent desired that the horses should remain in our possession until morning , but he agreed to assume all the responsibility , and even smiled when I ventured to hint that perhaps the commissioner would visit us at an early hour . `` Give me a bill of sale , signed by your firm , '' the agent said , `` and I will risk all attempts at confiscation . '' I did as he requested , and got two or three respectable men to witness my signature , and the delivery of the money , and then I went back to the store and chuckled at the thought of the disappointed commissioner next morning . We did not retire very early , but sat up with closed doors and darkened windows , and read our papers and talked until long past midnight . Our business affairs were prosperous -- we were free from debts of any kind -- we had ready money enough on hand to take advantage of the markets , and buy low and sell dear -- and to crown all , we had many thousand dollars lying idle in the Melbourne bank , which we could resort to in case of necessity . Our position was good , but a few losses by bad management would have made us as pecuniarily poor as when we reached the country , therefore the little trouble which we had with the commissioner gave us considerable annoyance , for in various ways he could injure us . We went to bed that night with considerable anxiety on our minds , but with a firm determination that if we were imposed upon we would resist , and even carry our grievances before the governor , if we could obtain redress in no other way .