midnight
He knew that the gods were plotting an abominable thing . She was going to call upon him for the `` stunt '' which had been inescapably identified with him , the song , `` I went up in a balloon so big . '' He met the crisis heroically . He said loudly , as the shaky strains of the Swiss ballad died on the midnight mountain air of 157th Street -LRB- while the older men concealed yawns and applauded , and the family in the adjoining flat rapped on the radiator -RRB- : `` I 'm sorry my throat 's so sore to-night . Otherwise I 'd sing a song I learned from a fellow in California -- balloon s ' big . '' Gertie stared at him doubtfully , but passed to a kitten-faced girl from Minnesota , who was quite ready to give an imitation of a child whose doll has been broken . Her `` stunt '' was greeted with , `` Oh , how cun-ning !