midnight
If the king returns , the neighborhood will want my head , and my poor uncle would have saved it . '' `` What a fool Gudin is , '' said one of the men who had stayed behind to share the spoils ; `` his uncle was rich , and he has n't had time to make a will and disinherit him . '' The division over , the men of Fougeres rejoined the little battalion of the Blues on their way to the town . * * * * * Towards midnight the cottage of Galope-Chopine , hitherto the scene of life without a care , was full of dread and horrible anxiety . Barbette and her little boy returned at the supper-hour , one with her heavy burden of rushes , the other carrying fodder for the cattle . Entering the hut , they looked about in vain for Galope-Chopine ; the miserable chamber never looked to them as large , so empty was it . The fire was out , and the darkness , the silence , seemed to tell of some disaster .