midnight
`` Then , sir , the petition must not be signed . The ceremony , after all , was a blessing , and I shall not again crave the banker 's forgiveness . Good night . '' There came a day , and it followed the picnic , with not a week between , when Lyman 's midnight scratching , done at the house of old Uncle Buckley , came out into the dazzling light . A story written by him appeared in one of the leading magazines of the East . It was a simple recital , a picture of the country and its people , and so close down upon the earth did it lie that a patter of rain that fell somewhere among the words brought a sweet scent from the blackberry briars , and a smell of dust from the rain . There were intelligent reading persons , in Old Ebenezer , and with the big eye of astonishment they viewed the story , but they were afraid to form an opinion until the critic of the `` State Gazette , '' following a bold lead struck by an eastern reviewer , declared it to be a piece of masterly work .