Midnight
They were the first human beings the wanderers had met ; and when Falkland gave the alarm to Riego , who slept beside him , it was immediately proposed to detain them as guides to the town of Carolina , where Riego had hopes of finding effectual assistance , or the means of ultimate escape . The hermit and his companion refused , with much vehemence , the office imposed upon them ; but Riego ordered them to be forcibly detained . He had afterwards reason bitterly to regret this compulsion . Midnight came on in all the gorgeous beauty of a southern heaven , and beneath its stars they renewed their march . As Falkland rode by the side of Riego , the latter said to him in a low voice , `` There is yet escape for you and my followers : none for me : they have set a price on my head , and the moment I leave these mountains , I enter upon my own destruction . '' `` No , Rafael ! '' replied Falkland ; `` you can yet fly to England , that asylum of the free , though ally of the despotic ; the abettor of tyranny , but the shelter of its victims ! ''