midnight
`` It is , and -- something more ! I call on you and your witnesses to notice that the fifteen thousand dollars was not delivered to me until six minutes after twelve , too late to make the tender legal , which makes the contract null and void . '' Mr. Martin , with a triumphant sweep of his hand , pointed to a big clock at the end of the long hall . `` I beg your pardon , '' said Bart , holding up his watch , `` but I keep official time , and it is exactly thirty seconds to midnight . Listen ! '' And thirty seconds later , from the Pleasantville court house tower , the town bell rang out twelve musical strokes . `` I 'll go ! ''