midnight
On only one point difficulty still remained . That was the closing of the bar . Mr. Smith could never bring his mind to it , -- not as a matter of profit , but as a point of honour . It was too much for him to feel that Judge Pepperleigh might be out on the sidewalk thirsty at midnight , that the night hands of the Times-Herald on Wednesday might be compelled to go home dry . On this point Mr. Smith 's moral code was simplicity itself , -- do what is right and take the consequences . So the bar stayed open . Every town , I suppose , has its meaner spirits .