midnight
`` How will you get from the railroad ? '' `` Ai n't no way ` cept walkin ' . '' I had it now , the whole damnable , pitiful story , every fact clear-cut to the bone . I could see it all : the look of terror when the deputy woke her from her sleep and laid his hand upon her ; the parting with the other child ; the fright of the helpless husband ; the midnight ride , she hardly able to stand , the pitiful scrap of her own flesh and blood tight in her arms ; the procession to the jail , the men in front chained together , she bringing up the rear , walking beside the last guard ; the first horrible night in jail , the walls falling upon her , the darkness overwhelming her , the puny infant resting on her breast ; the staring , brutal faces when the dawn came , followed by the coarse jest . No wonder that she hung limp and hopeless to the bars of her cage , all the spring and buoyancy , all the youth and lightness , crushed out of her . I put my hand through the bars and laid it on her wrist . `` No , you wo n't walk ; not if I can help it . ''