two o’clock at
night
He passed lightly over the most serious faults , because he told himself that , if he had done his part , his dependents had not fallen into them . Tom regarded his gay , airy , handsome young master with an odd mixture of fealty , reverence , and fatherly solicitude . That he never read the Bible ; never went to church ; that he jested and made free with any and every thing that came in the way of his wit ; that he spent his Sunday evenings at the opera or theatre ; that he went to wine parties , and clubs , and suppers , oftener than was at all expedient , -- were all things that Tom could see as plainly as anybody , and on which he based a conviction that `` Mas ' r was n't a Christian ; '' -- a conviction , however , which he would have been very slow to express to any one else , but on which he founded many prayers , in his own simple fashion , when he was by himself in his little dormitory . Not that Tom had not his own way of speaking his mind occasionally , with something of the tact often observable in his class ; as , for example , the very day after the Sabbath we have described , St. Clare was invited out to a convivial party of choice spirits , and was helped home , between one and two o'clock at night , in a condition when the physical had decidedly attained the upper hand of the intellectual . Tom and Adolph assisted to get him composed for the night , the latter in high spirits , evidently regarding the matter as a good joke , and laughing heartily at the rusticity of Tom 's horror , who really was simple enough to lie awake most of the rest of the night , praying for his young master . `` Well , Tom , what are you waiting for ? '' said St. Clare , the next day , as he sat in his library , in dressing-gown and slippers .