midnight
An hour and a half before it was time to return ! Why ? There could be but one reason . Margaret was thinking of me , and of what I should feel if I called at North Villa , and had to wait for her till past midnight . I ran forward to speak to them , as they descended the steps ; but exactly at the same moment , my voice was overpowered , and my further progress barred , by a scuffle on the pavement among the people who stood between us . One man said that his pocket had been picked ; others roared to him that they had caught the thief . There was a fight -- the police came up -- I was surrounded on all sides by a shouting , struggling mob that seemed to have gathered in an instant .