midnight
The arms are in use in Central Asia at the present time , though their pattern is already considered antiquated . Any one who may choose to walk along the Czerniakowska will find to-day on the left-hand side of it a large building , once an iron-foundry , now deserted and falling into disrepair . If it be evening-time , he will , as likely as not , meet the patrol from the neighboring hussar barracks , which nightly guards this road and the river-side . After receiving their final instructions , Kosmaroff and Martin had to wait two days until the weather changed -- until the moon , now well on the wane , did not rise before midnight . At last they set out , in full daylight , on a high river still encumbered by ice . It was much warmer during the day now ; but the evenings were cold , and a thick mist usually arose from the marsh-lands . This soon enveloped them , and they swept on unseen .