midnight
They looked on at the pier hop , while Professor Willard 's musicians played popular tunes ; returned to the boardwalk and watched the pretty girls leaning against the wooden beasts on the merry-go-round while the organ screamed forth , `` Daddy Would n't Buy Me a Bow Wow ; '' experienced that not very illusive illusion known as `` The Trip to Chicago ; '' were borne aloft on an observation wheel ; made the rapid transit of the toboggan slide , visited the phonographs and heard a shrill reproduction of `` Molly and I and the Baby ; '' tried the slow and monotonous ride on the `` Figure Eight , '' and the swift and varied one on the switchback . They bought saltwater taffy and ate it as they passed down the boardwalk and looked at the moonlight . Down on the Bowery-like part of the boardwalk they devoured hot sausages , and in a long pavilion drank passable beer and saw a fair variety show . Thence they left the boardwalk , walked to Atlantic Avenue and mounted a car that bore them to Shauffler 's , where among light-hearted beer drinkers they heard the band play `` Sousa 's Cadet March '' and `` After the Ball , '' and so they arrived at midnight . All this was beneficial to Haddon and pleasant enough in itself , but it prevented Morrow that night from prosecuting his search for the loveliest girl in the world . He postponed the search to the next day . And when that time came , after Haddon had started for New York , occurred an event that caused Morrow to postpone the search still further .