midnight
`` But Cack he made a great roarin ' fire , 'cause , ye see , Cack allers had slab-wood a plenty from his mill ; and a roarin ' fire is jest so much company . It sort o ' keeps a fellow 's spirits up , a good fire does . So Cack he sot on his old teakettle , and made a swingeing lot o ' toddy ; and he and Cap’n Eb were havin ' a tol ' able comfortable time there . Cack was a pretty good hand to tell stories ; and Cap’n Eb war n't no way backward in that line , and kep ' up his end pretty well : and pretty soon they was a-roarin ' and haw-hawin ' inside about as loud as the storm outside ; when all of a sudden , ' bout midnight , there come a loud rap on the door . ``` Lordy massy ! what 's that ? ' says Cack .