midnight
Major Howard sprang from his seat . `` Sir ! '' said he , darting an enraged glance on the strange man , `` are you a fool ? Do you not see the hair of the man you would accuse is black as midnight , while you affirm that of the one who fired my mansion to have been of a flaxen hue ? '' The hermit seemed not in the least disconcerted by this speech . Raising the long cane on which his arms had been resting , he lifted the black cloud of curls from the head of Col. Malcome and dashed it upon the floor . `` Herbert Mervale ! ''