about midnight
From that time forth he was never more seen by them , -- or , if seen , was never known . The other men remained there till well on into the night , although there was not the excitement of any special amusement to attract them . It was felt by them all that this was the end of the Beargarden , and , with a melancholy seriousness befitting the occasion , they whispered sad things in low voices , consoling themselves simply with tobacco . `` I never felt so much like crying in my life , '' said Dolly , as he asked for a glass of brandy-and-water at about midnight . `` Good-night , old fellows ; good-bye . I 'm going down to Caversham , and I should n't wonder if I did n't drown myself . '' How Mr. Flatfleece went to law , and tried to sell the furniture , and threatened everybody , and at last singled out poor Dolly Longestaffe as his special victim ; and how Dolly Longestaffe , by the aid of Mr. Squercum , utterly confounded Mr. Flatfleece , and brought that ingenious but unfortunate man , with his wife and small family , to absolute ruin , the reader will hardly expect to have told to him in detail in this chronicle .