midnight
`` I wish you would n't . '' And Wherry , wildly wringing his hand for the last time , was off to the sleigh waiting in the lane , a lean , quivering lad with blazing eyes of gratitude and a great choke in his throat as he waved at Carl , who smiled back at him with lazy reassurance through the smoke of a cigarette . Carl 's day was restless and very lonely . By midnight he was drinking heavily , having accepted the tray this time and dismissed Kronberg for the night . Though the snow had abated some the night before , and ceased in the morning , it was again whirling outside in the lane with the wild abandon of a Bacchante . The wind too was rising and filling the house with ghostly creaks . It was one of those curious nights when John Barleycorn chose to be kind -- when mind and body stayed alert and keen .