midnight
I will have a place prepared to which I can take the girl till it is safe to carry her from the city . '' Malchus was sleeping soundly that night when he was awakened by a low angry sound from the lion . He looked up , and saw by the faint light of a lamp which burned in the hall , from which the niche like bed chambers of the principal slaves opened , that the animal had risen to its feet . Knowing that , docile as it was with those it knew , the lion objected to strangers , the thought occurred to him that some midnight thief had entered the house for the purpose of robbery . Malchus took his staff and sallied out , the lion walking beside him . He traversed the hall and went from room to room until he entered the portion of the house inhabited by Flavia and the female slaves . Here he would have hesitated , but the lion continued its way , crouching as it walked , with its tail beating its sides with short quick strokes .