eight o'clock
`` At eight o'clock on the appointed evening , several of us professed great weariness , and went to our room , leaving the rest sewing virtuously with Miss Cotton , who read Hannah More 's Sacred Dramas aloud , in a way that fitted the listeners for bed as well as a dose of opium would have done . `` I am sorry to say I was one of the ringleaders ; and as soon as we got up stairs , produced the rope provided for the purpose , and invited Sally to be lowered . It was an old-fashioned house , sloping down behind , and the closet window chosen by us was not many feet from the ground . `` It was a summer evening , so that at eight o'clock it was still light ; but we were not afraid of being seen , for the street was a lonely one , and our only neighbors two old ladies , who put down their curtains at sunset , and never looked out till morning . `` Sally had been bribed by promises of as many ` goodies ' as she could eat , and being a regular madcap , she was ready for anything . `` Tying the rope round her waist she crept out , and we let her safely down , sent a big basket after her , and saw her slip round the corner in my big sun bonnet and another girl 's shawl , so that she should not be recognized . `` Then we put our night-gowns over our dresses , and were laid peacefully in bed when Betsey came up , earlier than usual ; for it was evident that Miss Cotton felt a little suspicious at our sudden weariness .