midnight
In fact , the track extended all but the last mile of the line . Ties were down nearly all of the way to the terminal station . This was the state of affairs at two o'clock in the afternoon . Before midnight the last rail must be laid , and the first through train from Stormburg must run in . If , at the stroke of midnight , the first train had failed to go through , then the charter of the S.B. & L. would be forfeited and subject to seizure and sale by the state . Up from Denver some of the worst politicians had come . They were quartered at the new little hotel in Lineville .