midnight
`` I must speak to her , neighbour ; I must , must , and will -- dear , dear child : come up with me , sir , come ; do not trifle with a breaking heart , neighbour ! '' There was a heart still in that hard-baked old East Indian . It was impossible to resist such an appeal : so the two elders crept up stairs , and knocked softly at her chamber-door . Clearly , the girl was asleep : she had sobbed herself to sleep ; the general had been looked for all day long , and she was worn with watching ; he could hardly come at midnight ; so the dear affectionate child had sobbed herself to sleep . `` Allow me , Sir Abraham . '' And General Tracy whispered something at the key-hole in a strange tongue . Not Aladdin 's `` open Sesame '' could have been more magical .