midnight
Sim seemed to know all about the methods used by the Nazis to trap anyone fleeing the country . They kept walking until midnight . Then they rested for a half-hour , lying in a hedge beside the road . After midnight they moved more slowly . Several times they dived into the fields along the road to avoid patrols moving swiftly along the lane on motorcycles . Once they almost ran into a bicycle patrol . The cyclists did not make any noise and were upon the boys before they had time to duck .