About midnight
When they received John from him and felt the child 's tremblings , he warned them kindly that the less asked about it the better for the reputations of both the boy and his father . `` You ca n't ` spute the right an ' custody of a man to his own son 's chastisement , naw yit to ` low to dat son dat ef ever he let his maw git win ' of it , he give him double an ' thribble . '' When the women told him he lied he appealed to John , and the child nodded his head . About midnight Cornelius handed the horse over to Judge March , reassuring him of his son 's safety and comfort , and hurried off , much pleased with the length of his own head in that he had not stolen the animal . John fell asleep almost as soon as he touched the pillow . Then the maid who had undressed him beckoned the other in . Candle in hand she led the way to the trundle-bed drawn out from under the Judge 's empty four-poster , and sat upon its edge .