Midnight
So they all talked at once in low voices , but in the obvious excitement of relief . It was an extraordinary pleasure to them -- now that they looked at it in the sanity conferred by food and warmth -- to reflect that Frank was within a quarter of a mile of them -- certainly in dreary surroundings ; but it was for the last time . To-morrow would see him restored to ordinary life , his delusions and vagaries plucked from him by irresistible circumstance , and the future in his hands . * * * * * Midnight still found them talking -- alert and cheerful ; but a little silence fell as they heard the chiming of bells . `` Christmas Day , by George ! '' said the clergyman . `` Merry Christmas ! ''