midnight
For hours they sat just as the soldiers had left them , great tears streaming down their pale and haggard faces , viewing the destruction of their few earthly possessions , the loss of all they could still call their own . They knew not what course to pursue , whether to remain or to flee . The unexpected blow appeared to have robbed them of their faculties ; all power of reflection seemed to have left them , and trembling and groaning they remained where they were , in fearful expectancy of what might follow . Towards midnight the soldiers returned . The liberal potations in which they had indulged had washed away the last semblance of humanity . Food and money had been the motives of their previous excesses , but on their return , hunger and cupidity had made way for lust . Mordecai 's wife became the object of their insults , and in the resistance which she and her husband offered , both were beaten unmercifully .