midnight
The `` speckles '' were everywhere , about the post office , in Ras Beebe 's store , about the lighthouse , on the beaches , and far and wide over the hills and hollows . They picknicked in the pine groves , they giggled in the back seats on prayer meeting nights , they sang noisily on the way back to the hotel after evening mail sorting , they danced jazzily in the hotel parlor and on the porches . Martha did not mind them ; she said they were rather nice , on the whole , because they helped to remind her that all creation was n't East Wellmouth . Galusha did n't object to them , except when they were TOO noisy at midnight or thereabouts and interfered with his slumbers . Primmie condescended to them and aired her knowledge of local celebrities and traditions . Captain Jethro ignored them utterly and Lulie was popular among them . Only Zacheus , the philosopher , seemed to find them unmitigated nuisances .