midnight
And this white slavery -- for it merits no better name -- is permitted by the law of two great nations . Italy is in fault in suffering this traffic in her children of tender years , and America is guilty as well in not interfering , as she might , at all events , to abridge the long hours of labor required of these boys , and forcing their cruel guardians to give them some instruction . One by one the boys straggled in . By midnight all had returned , and the boys were permitted to retire to their beds , which were poor enough . This , however , was the least of their troubles . Sound are the slumbers of young however hard the couch on which it rests , especially when , as with all the young Italian boys , the day has been one of fatigue . The events thus far recorded in the life of our young hero took place on a day toward the middle of October , when the temperature was sufficiently mild to produce no particular discomfort in those exposed to it .