midnight
`` Nay , my sons , '' he said , `` you must fly . Maybe these men will respect an old man like myself and lonely . '' Then I said : `` Father , we would have you say mass for us ere the light comes again . '' Now it wanted about an hour to midnight . `` Is there yet time ? '' he said . Then I answered that I thought we might wait in peace for so long , and he , knowing nothing of the nearness of the Danes , consented .