midnight
She slumbered , and dreamed not that she would wake to mingle with events that were to alter her serene disposition radically and cause her to become hasty-tempered and abnormally suspicious for the rest of her life . Meanwhile , Penrod appeared to reach a doubtful solution of his problem . His expression was still somewhat clouded as he brought from the storeroom of the stable a small fragment of a broken mirror , two paint brushes and two old cans , one containing black paint and the other white . He regarded himself earnestly in the mirror ; then , with some reluctance , he dipped a brush into one of the cans , and slowly painted his nose a midnight black . He was on the point of spreading this decoration to cover the lower part of his face , when he paused , brush halfway between can and chin . What arrested him was a sound from the alley -- a sound of drumming upon tin . The eyes of Penrod became significant of rushing thoughts ; his expression cleared and brightened .