midnight
On the platform of the station are the lovers who are waiting for their betrothed , and parents who have come down to greet their children , returned with a fortune , and wives who have not been able to eat or drink since their spouses went away three weeks before . As the cushioned train flashes into the depot and stops , wedding bells peal , and the gong of many banquets sounds , and white arms are flung about necks , reckless of mistake , and innumerable percussions of affection echo through the depot , so crisp and loud that they wake the conductor , who thought that the boisterous smack was on his own cheek , but finds that he is nothing but a bachelor railroad man , with a lantern , at midnight getting out into a snow bank . Application : Get an easy position when you sleep , if you have any choice between angels and gorgons . At midnight , seizing a chair , I ran into the next room , resolving to kill , at the first stroke , the ruffian who was murdering a member of my household . But there was no ruffian . The sweet girl had , during the day , been reading of St. Bartholomew 's massacre , and was now lying on her back , dreaming it all over again . When dreams find anyone lying flat on the back , they cry out , `` Here is a flat surface on which to skate and play ball , '' and from scalp to toe they sport themselves .