midnight
And now here was Peter with the worst one of all against him ! From now on his life would be in danger from this maniac Irishman ! Peter hated him -- so heartily and genuinely that it served to divert his thoughts from little Jennie , and to make him regard himself as a victim . Yes , in the midnight hours when Jennie 's gentle little face haunted him and his conscience attacked him , Peter looked back upon the tangled web of events , and saw quite clearly how inevitable this tragedy had been , how naturally it had grown out of circumstances beyond his control . The fearful labor struggle in American City was surely not Peter 's fault ; nor was it his fault that he had been drawn into it , and forced to act first as an unwilling witness , and then as a secret agent . Peter read the American City `` Times '' every morning , and knew that the cause of Goober was the cause of anarchy and riot , while the cause of the district attorney and of Guffey 's secret service was the cause of law and order . Peter was doing his best in this great cause , he was following the instructions of those above him , and how could he be blamed because one poor weakling of a girl had got in the way of the great chariot of the law ?