nearly midnight
But his perplexity about Mrs. Robertson 's gush lingered in his mind , and a year or two later , on his twentieth birthday , as it happened , he asked Miss Lydia again what on earth it meant ? ... The Robertsons had braved the raw Old Chester winter and come down to the old house to be near their son on that day . They came like the Greeks , bearing gifts , which , it being Johnny 's birthday , they knew could not be refused -- and old Miss Lydia , unlike the priest of Apollo , had no spear to thrust at them except the forbidden spear of Truth ! So her heart was in her mouth when Johnny , who had gone to supper with his father and mother , came home at nearly midnight and told her how good they were to him . But he was preoccupied as he talked , and once or twice he frowned . Then suddenly he burst out : `` Aunty , why does Mr. Robertson bother about me ? '' `` Does he ? ''