midnight
The letter was mailed by the janitor long before noon . Even as late as eleven o'clock that night Stanton was still hopefully expecting an answer . Nor was he altogether disappointed . Just before midnight a messenger boy appeared with a fair-sized manilla envelope , quite stiff and important looking . `` Oh , please , Sir , '' said the enclosed letter , `` Oh , please , Sir , we can not refund your subscription money because -- we have spent it . But if you will only be patient , we feel quite certain that you will be altogether satisfied in the long run with the material offered you . As for the photograph recently forwarded to you , kindly accept our apologies for a very clumsy mistake made here in the office .