midnight
`` It 's our New Year 's vows that help us to keep 'em . The very fact that a fellow has sworn to forego anything , whether it 's a habit or a girl , makes it more attractive . I 've thrown away a whole box of cigars with the finest intentions in the world and then gotten up in the middle of the night to fish the pieces out of the waste basket . And that midnight smoke was the sweetest I ever had . It was sweeter than the apples I stole when I was a kid and than the kisses I stole when -- '' `` If you came here to dilate on the joys of sin , Mr. Travers , '' began the widow coldly . `` And , '' proceeded the bachelor , `` I 've made up my mind to stop flirting with a girl , because I found out that she was beginning to -- to -- '' `` I understand , '' interrupted the widow sympathetically . `` And by jove ! ''