midnight
`` It certainly is going to be a thunder storm , '' he admitted . `` I 'm bound to be delayed now , for the roads will be mucky . Well , there 's no help for it . If I get to Albany before midnight I 'll be doing well . '' A few drops of rain splashed on his hands , and as he looked up to note the state of the sky others fell in his face . They were big drops , and where they splashed on the road they formed little globules of mud . `` I 'll head for that big tree , '' thought Tom `` It will give me some shelter .