midnight
For Eveley had been allowed to believe they were going to play cards and that there would be regular refreshments of substance , and perhaps a little dancing later on . All this had been submitted to by inference , without a word of direct confirmation from Winifred , who had a conscience . So it was that Eveley Ainsworth , irreproachably attired in a new georgette blouse and satin skirt , betook herself to her sister 's home for an evening meeting of the Current Club . And it was a decided shock to find that neither a social game nor a soul-restoring midnight supper were in store for her , but the proverbial tea and speeches . She resigned herself , however , to the inevitable , and shrank back as obscurely as possible into a dark corner where she might muse on the charms of Nolan , the beauties of the new Buddy Gillian , the martial dignity of Captain Hardin , and the appeals of all the rest , to her frivolous heart 's content . In this manner , she passed through the first part of the evening very comfortably , only dimly aware that she was floundering in the outskirts of a perfect maze of big words dealing with Americanization , which Eveley vaguely understood to be something on the order of standing up to _ The Star Spangled Banner _ , and marching in parades with a flag and shouting `` Hurrah for the President , '' in the presence of foreigners . The third speaker was a minister , and ministers are accustomed to penetrating the blue mazes of mental abstraction .