midnight
When he opened them again , four or five minutes later , they had marvellously cleared and his look was self-contained and sane . `` Have n't you heard the news ? '' He spoke much more easily now . `` It came at midnight to the Journal . '' `` No ; I 've been walking in the country . '' `` The Mexicans crossed the Rio Grande on the twenty-sixth of last month , captured Captain Thornton and murdered Colonel Crook . That means war is certain . ''