twelve
o’clock
Certainly the events that shape our lives are seldom ushered in with pomp or ceremony ; they steal upon us unannounced , and begin their work without giving any premonition of their importance . Consequently Ethel had no idea when she returned home one night from a rather stupid entertainment that she was about to open a new and important chapter of her life . Hitherto that life had been one of the sweetest and simplest character -- the lessons and sports of childhood and girlhood had claimed her nineteen years ; and Ethel was just at that wonderful age when , the brook and the river having met , she was feeling the first swell of those irresistible tides which would carry her day by day to the haven of all days . It was Saturday night in the January of 1900 , verging toward twelve o'clock . When she entered her room , she saw that one of the windows was open , and she stood a moment or two at it , looking across the straight miles of white lights , in whose illumined shadows thousands of sleepers were holding their lives in pause . `` It is not New York at all , '' she whispered , `` it is some magical city that I have seen , but have never trod . It will vanish about six o'clock in the morning , and there will be only common streets , full of common people .