midnight
He once told me , `` I can make a shift to get along with an easy book ; but if I come to a hard word , I cry ` Wheelbarrows , ' and skip him . '' On his own topics he was very sensible , and no owner could have found fault with him had he not been just a little racketty on shore . In my refined days I remember reading in one of Thackeray 's books about a young lord who was much loved by one Henry Esmond : My friend Jack was very like that young man , and you could not get vexed with him , -- or , at any rate , you could not keep vexed very long . We soon made friends in The Chequers , and before midnight we were confidential . On my expressing wonder at seeing a Barking lad among us , Jack winked with profound meaning , and said , `` I ai n't Barking at all , only for this trip . My gal 's a Lowestoft gal , and she 've come up here , so I 'm ready for her Sunday out to-morrow . See ? ''