midnight
`` My _ dear _ sir , '' he went on presently , `` this ground is quite familiar to me . I slept in this very chamber long ago . But that is not here nor there . Day after to-morrow , a little before midnight , the ladies will be riding on the shore pike . You could meet them and bring them out to a schooner , I suppose -- if -- '' He stopped again , puffing thoughtfully . `` If we could agree , '' he went on . `` Now this would be my view of it : You let me send a messenger for the ladies .