midnight
How loud , how potent was the call he heard ! Ringing in his ears , it disturbed the clearness and serenity of his mind , and instead of calmly reflecting on the matter , memories of his boyhood , which he had imagined were buried long ago , raised their voices , and incoherent flashes of thought darted through his brain . Sometimes he felt impelled to turn in prayer to the God who summoned him , but whenever he attempted to calm himself and uplift his heart and eyes to Him , he remembered the oath he must break , the soldiers he must abandon to lead , instead of well-disciplined , brave , obedient bands of brothers-in-arms , a wretched rabble of cowardly slaves , and rude , obstinate shepherds , accustomed to the heavy yoke of bondage . The third hour after midnight had come , the guards had been relieved , and Hosea thought he might now permit himself a few hours repose . He would think all these things over again by daylight with his usual clear judgment , which he strove in vain to obtain now . But when he entered the tent and heard Ephraim 's regular breathing , he fancied that the boy 's solemn message was again echoing in his ears . Startled , he was in the act of repeating it himself , when loud voices in violent altercation among the sentinels disturbed the stillness of the night .