midnight
O ! it was the oddest of transactions ! My Lord Gambara with death in his heart very reluctantly giving me a life I did not want . I dug my heels into the mule 's sides and started across the silent , empty square , then plunged into a narrow street where the gloom was almost as of midnight , and so pushed on . I came out into the open space before the Porta Fodesta , and so to the gate itself . From one of the windows of the gatehouse , a light shone yellow , and , presently , in answer to my call , out came an officer followed by two men , one of whom carried a lanthorn swinging from his pike . He held this light aloft , whilst the officer surveyed me .