midnight
And Ardita listens in enchantment . `` Oh down -- oh down , Mammy wan na take me down milky way , Oh down , oh down , Pappy say to-morra-a-a-ah But mammy say to-day , Yes -- mammy say to-day ! '' Carlyle sighed and was silent for a moment looking up at the gathered host of stars blinking like arc-lights in the warm sky . The negroes ' song had died away to a plaintive humming and it seemed as if minute by minute the brightness and the great silence were increasing until he could almost hear the midnight toilet of the mermaids as they combed their silver dripping curls under the moon and gossiped to each other of the fine wrecks they lived on the green opalescent avenues below . `` You see , '' said Carlyle softly , `` this is the beauty I want . Beauty has got to be astonishing , astounding -- it 's got to burst in on you like a dream , like the exquisite eyes of a girl . '' He turned to her , but she was silent .