eight o'clock
As none of us could get out alone , we resolved to lower Sally from the window , for she was light and small , and very smart . `` With our combined pocket-money she was to buy nuts and candy , cake and fruit , pie , and a candle , so that we might have a light , after Betsey took ours away as usual . We were to darken the window of the inner chamber , set a watch in the little entry , light up , and then for a good time . `` 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 .