midnight
Darrel rose and put on his glasses and brought a newspaper and gave it to the boy . `` Read that , '' said he , his finger on the story , `` an ' see what came of it . '' The article was entitled `` A Rag Doll -- The Story of a Money-lender whose Name , let us say , is Brown . '' After some account of the marriage and of bride and groom , the story went on as follows : -- `` At midnight the charivari was heard -- a noisy beating of pans and pots in the door-yard of the unhappy groom , who flung sticks of wood from the window , and who finally dispersed the crowd with an old shotgun . Bright and early next day came the milkman -- a veteran of the war of 1812 -- who , agreeably with his custom , sounded the call of boots and saddles on his battered bugle at Brown 's door . But none came to open it . The noon hour passed with no sign of life in the old house . ''