midnight
`` After the moment of his escape from these revellers , we lose all trace of Oliver ' but we can prove that the maskers went to Sir John Ramorny 's , where they were admitted , after some show of delay . It is rumoured that thou , Henry Smith , sawest our unhappy fellow citizen after he had been in the hands of these revellers . What is the truth of the matter ? '' `` He came to my house in the wynd , '' said Henry , `` about half an hour before midnight ; and I admitted him , something unwillingly , as he had been keeping carnival while I remained at home ; and ` There is ill talk , ' says the proverb , ` betwixt a full man and a fasting . ''' `` And in which plight seemed he when thou didst admit him ? '' said the provost . `` He seemed , '' answered the smith , `` out of breath , and talked repeatedly of having been endangered by revellers .