midnight
He laughed bitterly . `` An ' did n't He say : ` He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword . ' One by one they come up missin ' , till I had killed all but seven . These got panicky -- followed by an unknown doom an ' they c ` ud n't see it , for it come like a thief at midnight an ' agin like a pesterlence it wasted 'em at noonday . They separated -- they tried to fly -- they hid -- but I followed 'em ` an I got all but one . He fled to California . '' `` It was awful , Jack -- awful -- God he ' p you . ''