midnight
`` We put him in a loft , sir , and then I told Tom that he was not Campbell 's thief at all . But I had a craving to scare the man out of Kentucky . So I rode off to the neighbors and gave them the tale , and bade them come after nightfall as though to hang Campbell 's thief , which they did , and they were near to smashing the door trying to get in the cabin . Tom told them the rascal had escaped , but they must needs come in and have jigs and toddies until midnight . When they were gone , and we called down the man from the loft , he was in such a state that he could scarce find the rungs of the ladder with his feet . He rode away into the night , and that was the last we heard of him . Tom was not to blame , sir . ''