nine
o'clock before
And when this had been drunk amid much jesting and laughter , the company put on their wraps and hoods , bade good-night to their hosts , entered their sleighs , and , with more jesting and more laughter , started for a moonlight drive over the frozen snow to their several homes . And so ended the New Year 's Eve party at Oldfield Farm . New Year 's morning dawned clear and cold . The family of Mondreer , on account of the party at Oldfield on the previous evening , and the long sleigh ride home `` in the wee , sma ' hours '' before the dawn , slept later than usual that day , so that it was nine o'clock before they were all gathered around the breakfast table , to renew their New Year 's greetings over the first morning meal of the year . The pleasant party of the previous evening was discussed , and then the program of the passing day . The holiday was to be kept very unostentatiously . It had been the annual custom of many years for Mr. and Mrs. Force to entertain the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Peters to dinner at Mondreer on New Year 's Day .