midnight
It is young Wyndham , whose half-hour 's liberty has come round at last , and who now has come to witness the achievements of that second-eleven in which , alas ! he may not play . However , he does not waste his time in growling , but cheers vociferously every piece of good fielding , and his voice becomes an inspiriting feature of the innings . But you can see , by the way he is constantly looking at his watch , that his liberty is limited , and that soon , like Cinderella at midnight , he must vanish once more into obscurity . He knows to half a second how long it takes him to run from the tent to the schoolhouse , and at one minute and twelve seconds to six , whatever he is doing , he will bolt like mad to his quarters . Before , however , his time is half-over the captain joins him . `` Well , old man , '' says the latter , `` I wish you were playing .