midnight before
This perfectly heartless statement served to distract Mary V 's mind from her mother 's lack of feeling . She obediently turned out the lights , -- all the lights , since they meant to kill Johnny in cold blood ! -- and wept anew upon the darkened porch , while swarms of mosquitoes hummed just without the screen , sending a slim scout through now and then to torment Mary V , who spatted her chiffon-covered arms viciously and wished that she were dead , since no one had any feelings or any heart or any conscience on that ranch . It was midnight before healthy youth demanded sleep and dulled her half-feigned agonies of self-pity . It was morning before she began to feel really uneasy about Johnny . After her tantrum she slept late , so that when she awoke it was past time for Johnny 's arrival , supposing he had started at sunrise , which she now admitted to herself was the most sensible time for the flight . Eight o'clock -- and he must have started , else he would have called her up on the ` phone and told her he was not coming .