nearly midnight
I must admit , that , as I walked by the cart that night , I felt very much as if I were accompanying the remains of some humble friend to his last resting-place ; and that , when I was obliged to ride in it , I never could entirely convince myself that I was not helplessly overcome by liquor , or the victim of an accident , en route to the hospital . But at last we reached the ferry . On the boat , I think no one discovered Baby , except a drunken man , who approached me to ask for a light for his cigar , but who suddenly dropped it , and fled in dismay to the gentlemen 's cabin , where his incoherent ravings were luckily taken for the earlier indications of delirium tremens . It was nearly midnight when I reached my little cottage on the outskirts of Oakland ; and it was with a feeling of relief and security that I entered , locked the door , and turned him loose in the hall , satisfied that henceforward his depredations would be limited to my own property . He was very quiet that night ; and after he had tried to mount the hatrack , under the mistaken impression that it was intended for his own gymnastic exercise , and knocked all the hats off , he went peaceably to sleep on the rug . In a week , with the exercise afforded him by the run of a large , carefully-boarded enclosure , he recovered his health , strength , spirits , and much of his former beauty . His presence was unknown to my neighbors , although it was noticeable that horses invariably `` shied '' in passing to the windward of my house , and that the baker and milkman had great difficulty in the delivery of their wares in the morning , and indulged in unseemly and unnecessary profanity in so doing .