Eight o'clock
`` Dinner ! '' screamed Mama Hart , `` Dinner , who 's got time to fool with dinner this evening ? Look in the sideboard and you 'll see some bread and ham ; eat that and shut up . '' Eight o'clock finally arrived , and with it , the music and some straggling guests . When the first faint chee-chee of the violin floated out into the murky atmosphere , the smaller portion of the neighborhood went straightway into ecstasies . Boys and girls in all stages of deshabille clustered about the door-steps and gave vent to audible exclamations of approval or disapprobation concerning the state of affairs behind the green shutters . It was a warm night and the big round moon sailed serenely in a cloudless , blue sky .