midnight
`` Very well , '' Rouletta sighed , resignedly , `` I wo n't scold you , for -- I 'm too glad to see you . '' Affectionately she squeezed his arm , whereupon he beamed again in the frankest delight . `` Now , then , we 'll have supper and you can take me home . '' The Rialto was crowded with its usual midnight throng ; there was the hubbub of loud voices and the ebb and flow of laughter . From midway of the gambling-hall rose the noisy exhortations of some amateur gamester who was breathing upon his dice and pleading earnestly , feelingly , with `` Little Joe '' ; from the theater issued the strains of a sentimental ballad . As Rouletta and her companion edged their way toward the lunch-counter in the next room they were intercepted by the Snowbird , whose nightly labors had also ended . `` All aboard for the big eats , '' the latter announced .