midnight
These guests he would entertain in the most sumptuous manner ; and Franklin House became the scene of reckless dissipation and noisy revels , such as it had seldom witnessed before . One evening Simon invited a goodly number of his friends to a ` grand banquet , ' as he pompously termed it ; and there assembled in the spacious parlor about twenty male and female domestics from various houses in the neighborhood . The males included fat butlers , gouty coachman , lean footmen and sturdy grooms ; and among the females were buxom cooks , portly laundresses and pretty ladies ' maids . Simon had well nigh emptied the cellar of its choice contents , in order to supply wine to his guests ; and towards midnight the party became uproarious in the extreme . We shall not attempt to sketch the toasts that were offered , nor the speeches that were made ; neither shall we enter too minutely into the particulars of the game of ` hide-and-seek , ' in which they indulged -- or tell how our handsome footman chased some black-eyed damsel into a dark and distant chamber , and there tussled her upon the carpet , or tumbled her upon the bed , or perpetrated other little pleasantries of a similar nature . Suffice it to say , all these amusements were gone through with by the company , until tired of the sport , they reassembled in the parlor , and gathering around the fire , began to converse on ghosts . Reader , have you ever , at the solemn hour of midnight , while listening to the recital of some fearful visitation from the land of spirits , felt your hair to bristle , and your flesh to creep , and your blood to chill with horror , as you imagined that some terrible being was at that moment standing outside the door , ready to glide into the room and stand beside your chair ?