midnight
The Chief came out alone ! It was as he had feared . Then as if the very devil himself pursued him , Billy turned and fled , retrieving his bicycle and whirled away noiselessly down the road , caring not where he was going , ready to hang himself , wild with despair and self-condemnation . The dark lay over the valley like a velvet mantel black and soft with white wreaths of mist like a lady 's veil flung aside and blown to the breeze , but Billy saw naught but red winking lights and a jail , grim and red in the midnight , and his friend 's white face passing in beneath the arched door . The bang of that door as it shut was echoing in his soul . He passed the Fenner cottage . There were lights and moving about , but he paid no heed .