midnight
`` Yes -- and then ? '' cried Marjory eagerly . `` Mr. Brewster said that Mr. Jack was n't born to be hanged , and for me to have an extry plate laid at the table for him to-night , '' concluded William with an expressive grin . The Babe on the Doorstep It was midnight in Tinkletown , many months after the events mentioned in the foregoing chapters , and a blizzard was raging . The February wind rasped through the bare trees , shrieked around the corners of lightless houses and whipped its way through the scurrying snow with all the rage of a lion . The snow , on account of the bitter cold in the air , did not fly in big flakes , but whizzed like tiny bullets , cutting the flesh of men and beasts like the sting of wasps . It was a good night to be indoors over a roaring fire or in bed between extra blankets .