Midnight
Rossi took a long breath of relief and went away . He had returned to the bright side of the piazza when the lights seemed to be wiped out as though by an invisible wing , and the whole city was plunged in darkness . At the next moment a squadron of cavalry galloped up to the Quirinal , and the gates of the royal palace and of the Consulta were closed . Midnight struck . For two hours the soldiers had been charging the crowds by the light of lanterns and torches . They had arrested hundreds of persons . Chained together , two and two , the insurgents had been taken to the places of detention , amid the cries of their women and children .