nine o'clock
He also asked pertinently how Hefty expected to support a wife by swimming from one pier to another on the chance of winning ten dollars , and pointed out that even this precarious means of livelihood would be shut off when the winter came . He much preferred `` Patsy '' Moffat as a prospective son-in-law , because Moffat was one of the proprietors in a local express company with a capital stock of three wagons and two horses . Miss Casey herself , so it seemed to Hefty , was rather fond of Moffat ; but he could not tell for whom she really cared , for she was very shy , and would as soon have thought of speaking a word of encouragement as of speaking with unkindness . There was to be a ball at the Palace Garden on Wednesday night , and Hefty had promised to call for Mary at nine o'clock . She told him to be on time , and threatened to go with her old love , Patsy Moffat , if he were late . On Monday night the foreman at the livery stable of the ice company appointed Hefty a driver , and , as his wages would now be fifteen dollars a week , he concluded to ask Mary to marry him on Wednesday night at the dance . He was very much elated and very happy .