midnight
No use trying to explain a thing of that sort at all unless you can explain it without alluding to it . He was ready , early in the evening , to begin ; but lost some time trying to decide whether to open with Miss Garnet , or My Dear Miss Garnet , or Dear Miss Garnet , or My Dear Miss Barbara , or My Dear Miss Barb , or Dear Miss Barb , or just Dear Friend as you would to an ordinary acquaintance . He tried every form , but each in turn looked simply and dreadfully impossible , and at length he went on with the letter , leaving the terms of his salutation to the inspiration of the last moment . It was long after midnight when he finished . The night sky was inviting , and the post-office near by ; he mailed the letter there instead of trusting the hotel . And then he stood by the mute slot that had swallowed it , and because he could not get it back for amendment called himself by as large a collection of flaming and freezing invectives as ever a Southern gentleman -- `` member in good standing of any Evangelical church '' -- poured upon himself in the privacy of his own counsels . He returned to his hotel , but was back again at sunrise smiling his best into a hand hole , requesting so-and-so and so-and-so , while he pencilled and submitted examples of his hand-writing .