noon
Then the old man went to bed , thinking that in the morning he would get Sharpman to prepare for him the papers that would be necessary to carry his plan into execution . He derived much pleasure from his dreams that night , for he dreamed of torturing poor Ralph to his heart 's content . When Bachelor Billy left the court-room that Monday evening with his unconscious burden in his arms , he remained only long enough in the court-house square to revive the boy , then he took him to the railway station , and they went together , by the earliest train , to Scranton . The next morning Ralph felt very weak and miserable , and did not leave the house ; and Bachelor Billy came home at noon to see him and to learn what news , if any , had been received from Wilkesbarre . Both he and Ralph expected that a verdict would be rendered for the defendant , in accordance with Ralph 's testimony , and neither of them were surprised , therefore , when Andy Gilgallon came up from the city after supper and informed them that the jury had so found . That settled the matter , at any rate . It was a relief to Ralph to know that it was at an end ; that he was through with courts and lawyers and judges and juries , and that there need be no further effort on his part to escape from unmerited fortune .