nearly midnight
`` She must , '' he said to himself , and to this despot to wish for a thing and to possess it seemed one and the same . `` Bartja had better take care , '' he murmured , `` or he shall know what fate awaits the man who dares to cross my path . '' Nitetis too had passed a restless night . The common apartment of the women was next to her own , and the noise and singing there had not ceased until nearly midnight . She could often distinguish the shrill voice of Boges joking and laughing with these women , who were under his charge . At last all was quiet in the wide palace halls and then her thoughts turned to her distant home and her poor sister Tachot , longing for her and for the beautiful Bartja , who , Croesus had told her , was going to-morrow to the war and possibly to death . At last she fell asleep , overcome by the fatigue of the journey and dreaming of her future husband .