midnight
Grace and Flora were to come early that afternoon , as soon after school as possible , and Flora had sent Sylvia a note that she would bring her lace-work and give her a lesson . By noon Sylvia felt rested , and was looking eagerly forward to her friends ' visit . She began to feel that she was a very fortunate little girl to have had the chance to do something that might help , as Mr. Doane had said , to give the black people their freedom . She only wished that she could tell her mother and father of the midnight journey . `` But I will ask Mrs. Carleton the next time I go to the fort to let me tell Mother , '' she resolved . Grace was the first to arrive , and she declared that she wished that she was in Sylvia 's place and need not go to school another day . The two little friends stood at the window watching for Flora , and it was not long before they saw her coming up the walk , closely followed by her black `` Mammy , '' who was carrying two baskets .