midnight
If she still refused him he would give her up to justice . Esmeralda 's friends , all the gypsies , vagrants , cutthroats , and pick-pockets of Paris , to the number of six thousand , also resolved that they would forcibly rescue her from Notre Dame , lest some evil should overtake her . Paris at that time had neither police nor adequate city watchmen . At midnight the monstrous army of vagrants set out , and it was not until they were outside the church that they lit their torches . Quasimodo , every night on the watch , at once supposed that the invaders had some foul purpose against Esmeralda , and determined to defend the church at all cost . The battle raged furiously at the great west doors . Hammers , pincers , and crow-bars were at work outside .