midnight
She was not of the nervous kind . Nurtured amid dangers , most of her life accustomed to alarms from Indian incursions , as well as revolutionary risings , she remained calm . She dispatched messengers to the town , secretly , one after another ; and , while awaiting their reports , knelt before an image of the Virgin , and prayed . Up till midnight her couriers went , and came . Then one who was more than a messenger -- her brother himself ! As already reported to her , he was wounded , and came accompanied by the surgeon of the garrison , a friend . They arrived at the house in hot haste , as if pursued .