midnight
`` At twelve o'clock tonight Messrs. Bradley , Willingden , Baxter , & Simmons are free to act , if the money is not at the disposal of the syndicate by then ; but till then my option is indefeasible . Does that meet the case or not ? '' `` It meets the case , '' said Burlingame in a morose voice , rising . `` If you can produce the money before the stroke of midnight , why ca n't you produce it now ? What 's the use of bluffing ! It ca n't do any good in the end . Your credit -- '' `` My credit has been stopped by your friends , '' interrupted Crozier , `` but my resources are current . ''