midnight
During her not infrequent absences from home , she had no uneasiness about her daughters , amply protected as they were by the numerous servants in the quarters back of the `` great house , '' to say nothing of the small army of dogs which fattened upon her bounty . The housewoman who had been with her for years slept on such occasions on a pallet outside the girls ' door , and Big Liza , the cook , also took up a position in the house , lying across the stairs in the great hall , whence her massive snores would have deterred the most reckless of marauders from entering . But it chanced that this particular Monday was the occasion of the annual colored picnic in the village , held under the auspices of the Ladies of the Evening Star , of which organization both the housewoman and Big Liza were officials . So from dusk until midnight the young ladies were to be left in the charge of no one but Lige , the stable-boy who had once figured as butler , to whose unhappy lot this honor had fallen because of his known slave-like devotion to Jacqueline . Every other member of the domestic force was off rejoicing with the Ladies of the Evening Star . This youth was making the rounds of the house with one of the Madam 's pistols in his belt , taking some comfort in the dramatization of his unlucky rôle , when breathless yells were heard approaching , and a small Ethiopian made his appearance over the back fence , yelling for help and the Madam in the same breath . `` The Madam 's done gone away fum heah , an ' lef me in charge , '' said Lige , grandly .