midnight
Pippin had looked for such an invitation , and was already in attendance . His regrets were prodigious , but his gratification not less , as it would give him an opportunity , for some time desired , for serving so excellent a gentleman . But the lawyer shook his head with most professional uncertainty at every step of his own narration of the case , and soon convinced Ralph that he really stood in a very awkward predicament . He described the situation of the body of Forrester when found ; the bloody dirk which lay beside it , having the initials of his name plainly carved upon it ; his midnight flight ; his close companionship with Forrester on the evening of the night in which he had been murdered -- a fact proved by old Allen and his family ; the intimate freedom with which Forrester had been known to confide his purposes to the youth , deducible from the joint call which they had made upon the sweetheart of the former ; and many other smaller details , unimportant in themselves , but linked together with the rest of the particulars , strengthening the chain of circumstances against him to a degree which rendered it improbable that he should escape conviction . Pippin sought , however , to console his client , and , after the first development of particulars , the natural buoyancy of the youth returned . He was not disposed readily to despair , and his courage and confidence rose with the pressure of events . He entered into a plain story of all the particulars of his flight -- the instrumentality of Miss Munro in that transaction , and which she could explain , in such a manner as to do away with any unfavorable impression which that circumstance , of itself , might create .