midnight
Nothing stirred behind him to confirm his fears . He crept softly across the hard ground of the road where he had landed . Then , when the yielding , silent turf was under his feet , he gave not another thought for his numbness , but started to run as a man runs in a nightmare , so little did the speed of his movements match the pace of his desire to set a distance between himself and Condillac . It wanted something over an hour to midnight when Monsieur de Garnache started out in his sodden clothes to run from Condillac . He bore away to the north , and continued running until he had covered a mile or so , when perforce he must slacken his pace lest presently he should have to give way to utter exhaustion . He trudged on bravely thereafter , at a good , swinging pace , realizing that in moving briskly lay his salvation from such ill effects as might otherwise attend his too long immersion . His run had set a pleasant glow upon his skin and seemed to have thawed the frozen condition of his joints .