midnight
`` Not when he is from home , surely , '' says the old woman again ; `` do have a little pity . Oblige me so far as to unbind this unfortunate , and refresh her a little with some food . '' The slave-girls , whose hearts were by no means destitute of sensibility , loosed her bands , and left her for a moment alone with the old woman . She made good use of the happy occasion , told her in whose name she had come , and said that if she would take care to be at the window exactly at midnight , Alischar would be there at that moment , when she might easily drop upon his shoulders and regain her freedom . With this she hies away to Alischar to make him acquainted with her success . She assured him that Beschadeddin being from home , the slaves had promised to leave Smaragdine unbound for that one night , and he needed not many words to make him undertake the adventure . He was at the appointed spot the moment darkness closed , determined to stand there and wait patiently for the time when his love should appear .