midnight
`` I know it wo n't ! '' said Tom , buttoning up his coat by the solitary button left . `` I know it wo n't ! '' And with this he went out into the chill air of midnight . When he got away from the shadow of the tavern , he stopped and looked up at the stars , and then he looked down upon the earth . `` Aye , '' he muttered , grinding his heel in the gravel , `` Peter Tindar is taking the kernel , and leaving poor Ellen the worthless husk , -- a husk more than worthless ! and I am helping him do it .