midnight
Now the evening being young , I proposed that we should sally forth together and view the town -- in other words -LRB- though I avoided them -RRB- that we should flaunt our uniforms in the streets of Portsmouth . Hartnoll demurred : the boat -LRB- said he -RRB- might arrive in our absence . I rang for the waiter again , and took counsel with him . The waiter began by answering that the Blue Posts , though open day and night , would take it as a favour if gentlemen patronising the house would make it convenient to knock-in before midnight , and , if possible , retire to their rooms before that hour . He understood our desire to see the town ; `` it was , in fact , the usual thing , under the circumstances . '' If I would not take it as what he might call -LRB- and did -RRB- call a libbaty , there was a good many bad characters knocking about Portsmouth , pickpockets included , and especially at fair-time . `` Fair-time ? ''