midnight
Another man got up and began to talk . He had an idea . `` We will have , '' he said , `` a bugler mounted on a white horse who will ride through the town at dawn blowing the reveille . At midnight he will stand on the steps of the town hall and blow taps to end the day . '' The crowd applauded . The idea had caught their fancy and had instantly taken a place in their minds as one of the real events of the day . Again Windy McPherson emerged from the crowd at the back of the hall .