Noon
So , after an hour 's plotting and planning , he made some purchases in Biddeford and started on his return trip . He was very low in his mind , thinking , if his wife really meditated upon warfare , she was likely to inspect the stage that night , but giving her credit in his inmost heart for too much common sense to use a broomstick , -- a woman with her tongue ! The Midnight Cry rattled on lumberingly . Its route had been shortened , and Mrs. Todd wanted its name changed to something less outlandish , such as the Rising Sun , or the Breaking Dawn , or the High Noon , but her idea met with no votaries ; it had been , was , and ever should be , the Midnight Cry , no matter what time it set out or got back . It had seen its best days , Jerry thought , and so had he , for that matter . Yet he had been called `` a likely feller '' when he married the Widder Bixby , or rather when she married him . Well , the mischief was done ; all that remained was to save a remnant of his self-respect , and make an occasional dash for liberty .