midnight
Why , his very breath smelled sweet to himself after he had cleaned out brass pan after brass pan , with that worn spoon of horn warranted not to scratch , kept and supplied by Miss Aline for the purpose . Now he was grown up . School and college had passed him by , and much to his own astonishment had left him in many ways as much a boy as ever . He had not been allowed to enter either of the fighting services , so he took what of adventure the country afforded -- the rustic merry-making of the `` Kirn '' in the days of harvest home , the coastwise adventure of ships , and the midnight raid of the Free Traders with their clanking keg-irons and long defiles of pack horses crowning the fells and bending away towards the North star and safety . Now Miss Aline greeted him cheerfully as he came in through the great doors of the courtyard which had been shut that morning for the first time since her father 's funeral . `` Ah , Louis , '' she cried at sight of him , `` it is easy to guess what brings you to my door so early in the morning . It is long since the days of the brass preserving-pan .