midnight
Hola ! A friend ! '' But only from the gently murmuring river far away the melancholy call of a waterfowl seemed to echo mockingly : `` A friend ! '' Just then the clock of Courbevoie Church struck the midnight hour . `` It is too late , '' whispered the men . They did not swear , nor did they curse their leader . Somehow it seemed as if they had expected all along that the Englishman would evade their vengeance yet again , that he would lure them out into the cold and into the darkness , and then that he would mock them , fool them , and finally disappear into the night .