midnight
And Elijah Westlake Bemis , keeping account of the man 's movements , chuckled as he felt the struggle in the man 's breast . For he was a wise old snake , that Lige Bemis , and he had seduced many another man after the brave impulsive `` no '' had roared in his face . Just before midnight when he saw the electric light flash on in the private office of the president of the Exchange National Bank , Lige Bemis , libertine with men , strolled home and counted the battle won . `` He 's writing his speech , '' he said to Barclay over the telephone at midnight . And John Barclay , who had fought the local contest in the election with Bemis to be loyal to a friend , and to help one who was in danger of losing the profit on half a million dollars ' investment in the Sycamore Ridge waterworks , laughed as he walked upstairs in his pajamas , and said to himself , `` Old Lige is a great one -- there is a lot of fight in the old viper yet . '' It was nothing to Barclay that the town got its water from a polluted pond . That phase of the case did not enter his consciousness , though it was placarded on the bill-boards and had been printed in the _ Banner _ a thousand times during the campaign .