three hours after midnight
Not only many field-guns , which are the terriers of the artillery , but some guns of siege calibre , the mastiffs , in a sudden outburst started a havoc of tumbling walls and cornices in the upper part of the town . Then an explosion greater than any from the shells shot a hemisphere of light heavenward , revealing a shadowy body flying overhead , and an instant later the heavens were illuminated by a vast circle of flame as the dirigible that had dropped the dynamite received its death-blow . But already the Brown infantry was withdrawing from the town , destroying buildings that would give cover for the attack in the morning as they went . Two or three hours after midnight fell a silence which was to last until dawn . The combatants rested on their arms , Browns saying to Grays , `` We shall be ready for the morrow ! '' and Grays replying : `` So shall we ! '' Marta , at her window , her eyes following the movements of the display , now here , now there , found herself thinking of many things , as in the intermissions between the acts of a drama .