midnight
Thank you , Mr. Walden , for all your kindness , '' her parting words . The night-watchman of the North End of Boston , with overcoat buttoned to the chin and a muffler around his neck , a fur cap drawn down over his ears to exclude the biting frost of midwinter , was going his rounds . He saw no revelers in the streets , nor belated visitors returning to their homes . If suitors were calling upon their ladies , the visits were ended long before the clock on the Old Brick struck the midnight hour . No voice broke the stillness of the night . The watchman scarcely heard his own footsteps in the newly fallen snow as he slowly made his way along Middle Street , -LSB- 37 -RSB- with his lantern and staff . He was not expecting to encounter a burglar , breaking and entering a shop , store , or residence .