nearly midnight
The man had lost his anchor ; the things which his life had been built on would not hold him . Money -- men envied the rich nowadays , he said , and the rich man had no rights in the courts or out of them ; friends -- they had gone up in the market , and he could not afford them ; politics -- he had found it a quicksand . So he jabbered to Neal Ward , his secretary , and pulled down the curtains of his car on the station side of every stop the train made in its long day 's journey . It was nearly midnight when the special train pulled into Sycamore Ridge , and Neal Ward hurried home . He went to his room , and found there a letter and a package , both addressed in Jeanette 's handwriting . The letter was only a note that read : -- `` MY DEAREST BOY : I could not wait to send it for your Christmas present . So I am sending it the very day it is finished .