eleven o'clock
There was always a genial house party in holiday times , and Gloaming rang free with the pleasures of the light-hearted . The Colonel himself was the merriest of the merry-makers , second only in enthusiasm to the sunny young wife from the North . The night of December 24 , 1897 , found the old mansion crowded with guests , most of whom were spending the week with the Gloames . There had been dancing and music and games , and eleven o'clock brought fatigue for even the liveliest of the guests . It was then that pretty Louise Kelly , of the Major Kellys of Richmond , peremptorily commanded the Colonel to tell the oft-told tale of the Gloaming Ghosts . `` Come to order , '' she cried to the guests in the double parlours . `` Colonel Gloame is going to tell us about those dear old ghosts . ''