midnight
It took a big slug of whisky to set off his oratory , but when he got it wound up he surely could pull the feathers out of the bird of freedom to beat scandalous . But as a stump speaker you were n't always sure he 'd fill the engagement . He could make a jury blubber and clench its fists at the prosecuting attorney , yet he did n't claim to know much law , and he did turn over all the work in the Supreme Court to his partner , Charley Hedrick . Then , when Charley was practising before the Supreme Court and was n't here to hold him down , Samp would get out and whoop it up with the boys , quote Shakespeare and make stump speeches on dry-goods boxes at midnight , and put his arms around old Marshal Furgeson 's neck and tell him he was the blooming flower of chivalry . Also women made a fool of him -- more or less . `` Where was I ? '' asked Colonel Morrison of the stenographer when she had finished sharpening her pencil .