twelve o'clock at night
They follow the shadows , in changeful sport , across his unchanging features . They gleam upon his watch . His grasp conceals the dial-plate , -- but we know that the faithful hands have met ; for one of the city clocks tells midnight . A man of sturdy understanding , like Judge Pyncheon , cares no more for twelve o'clock at night than for the corresponding hour of noon . However just the parallel drawn , in some of the preceding pages , between his Puritan ancestor and himself , it fails in this point . The Pyncheon of two centuries ago , in common with most of his contemporaries , professed his full belief in spiritual ministrations , although reckoning them chiefly of a malignant character . The Pyncheon of to-night , who sits in yonder arm-chair , believes in no such nonsense .