midnight
Had not the child tossed -- had not at the critical moment the safety pin proved untrue to the man who invented it -- that happy family reunion would have been impossible . Or , it might be told this way : Old Man McCurdy , the Pig-Iron King , forbids his daughter Gwendolyn even to think of marrying poor but honest Beef Walters , the baseball pitcher , and denies him his house . The lovers plan an elopement . At midnight Beef is to stand at the tradesman 's entrance and whistle `` Waiting at the Church '' ; and down the silent stairs Gwendolyn is to steal into his arms . At the very same hour the butler has planned with the policeman on fixed post to steal Mother McCurdy 's diamonds and pass them to a brother of the policeman , who is to wait at the tradesman 's entrance and whistle `` Waiting for the Robert E. Lee . '' This sounds improbable -- especially that the policeman would allow even his brother to get the diamonds before he did ; but , with the God of Coincidence on the job , you shall see that it will all come out right . Beef is first at the door .