midnight
He time to start for he gun boat , Massa Geral . '' The part Sambo had sustained in this short dialogue was a forced one . He had answered almost mechanically , and not altogether without embarrassment , the few queries that were put to him . Nay , so far was he governed by surrounding local influences , that the anguish he would , under other circumstances , have experienced , at this raking up of recollections he so sedulously avoided , was lost in terror , produced by his near and midnight propinquity to the fatal theatre of death . His only idea now was to leave the spot as quickly as he could . Gerald had again covered his face with his hands , and appeared to be laboring under strong agitation of mind . At length he started abruptly up , and seizing the light , held it forward , stooping over the bed , as if gazing fixedly on some object within .