midnight
Songs were sung , and stories told , and toasts drunk ; and with song and sentiment , and toast and story , and the wild excitement of wit and wine , the night waned away . With many of those young hearts , old with hope and burning with ambition , it was the last `` Twenty-second '' they would ever celebrate . Half of them never hailed another . It was past midnight when I withdrew from the scene of wassail . My blood was flushed , and I strolled down upon the beach to enjoy the cool fresh breeze that was flowing in from the Mexican Sea . The scene before me was one of picturesque grandeur , and I paused a moment to gaze upon it . The wine even heightened its loveliness to an illusion .