midnight
demanded his mother . `` There are six of us , '' Hal answered . `` But we can take hours in which to finish the meal , if we want to . Ralston 's does n't close until midnight . '' The waiter , having received the order in silence , shuffled off without a word . `` Nothing very magnetic about that waiter , '' thought Hal , his glance following the waiter for an instant . `` Somehow , his face looks familiar , too , but I 've been away from home during the very few years when every boy turns into a young man .