midnight
Donald , indeed , could not well conceive what these secret signals meant ; but he felt convinced that they meant `` no goot ; '' and he therefore determined on keeping a sharp look-out , not only while he was in the presence of his boon companions , but after he should have left them ; for he had a vague notion that they might possibly follow him for some evil purpose . Under this latter impression -- which had occurred to him only at the close of their orgie , no suspicion unfavourable to the characters of his guests having before struck him -- Donald , on parting from the latter at the door of the inn in which they had been regaling , might have been heard muttering to himself , after he had got to some little distance : -- `` Tam rogues , after all , I pelieve . '' Having thus distinctly expressed his sentiments regarding his late companions , Donald pursued his way , although he was very far from knowing what that way should be . Street after street he traversed , making frequent vain inquiries for his `` broder , Tuncan Gorm , '' until midnight , when he suddenly found himself in a large , open space , intersected by alleys formed by magnificent trees , and adorned by playing fountains of great beauty and elegance . Donald had got into the Prado , or public promenade of Madrid ; but of the Prado Donald knew nothing ; and much , therefore , did he marvel at what sort of a place he had got into . The fountains , in particular , perplexed and amazed him ; and it was while contemplating one of these , with a sort of bewildered curiosity , that he saw a human figure glide from one side to the other of the avenue in which the object of his contemplation was situated , and at the distance of about twenty yards . Donald was startled by the apparition ; and , recollecting his former associates , clapped his right hand instinctively on the hilt of his broadsword , and his left on the butt of a pistol -- one of those stuck in his belt -- and in this attitude awaited the re-appearance of the skulker ; but he did not make himself again visible .