midnight
And the man in black drained the last drop in his glass . `` Never , '' said I , `` will I become the slave of Rome . '' `` She will allow you latitude , '' said the man in black ; `` do but serve her , and she will allow you to call her ` puta ' at a decent time and place , her popes occasionally call her ` puta . ' A pope has been known to start from his bed at midnight and rush out into the corridor , and call out ` puta ' three times in a voice which pierced the Vatican ; that pope was -- '' `` Alexander the Sixth , I dare say , '' said I ; `` the greatest monster that ever existed , though the worthiest head which the pope system ever had -- so his conscience was not always still . I thought it had been seared with a brand of iron . '' `` I did not allude to him , but to a much more modern pope , '' said the man in black ; `` it is true he brought the word , which is Spanish , from Spain , his native country , to Rome . He was very fond of calling the church by that name , and other popes have taken it up .