about midnight
Luce ai n't no account , and no more is an old hoss-pistol , but when a hoss-pistol busts it 's a dangerous thing to be close to . You let him alone and mebbe he 'll quiet down . '' But that prophecy did not take into account the state of mind of the new outlaw of Smyrna . At about midnight Cap'n Sproul , snoring peaceably with wide-open mouth , snapped upright in bed with a jerk that set his teeth into his tongue and nearly dislocated his neck . He did n't know exactly what had happened . He had a dizzy , dreaming feeling that he had been lifted up a few hundred feet in the air and dropped back . `` Land o ' Goshen , Aaron , what was it ? ''