midnight
`` You are late to-night , uncle , '' said a tall , dark-haired youth , as he undid the fastenings of the wanderer 's long overcoat , and removed his woollen mittens and wide-brimmed hat . `` What time do you conceive it to be ? '' asked the man , depositing his long staff in a corner , and approaching the glowing fire . `` Past midnight , I would suppose , '' answered the boy , piling up a quantity of books that were scattered over a small table , and with which he had been occupying himself through the long evening hours . `` O , not so late as that ! '' returned the man , drawing a rude chair before the fire and extending his small , thin hands to the grateful blaze . `` The village clock in the old church tower at Wimbledon was on the stroke of ten when I laid my bundle of sticks in their accustomed place , and set my face homewards .