midnight
The thought acted upon me like some strange elixir ; to hear Naomi 's voice , to feel her hand in mine , were a joy beyond all words . How I was to do this I did not know ; what difficulties I should meet I did not consider . The thought that I should see her was enough for me , and I shouted for very joy . The hour was not yet late , and I calculated that by hard riding I could get to Pennington by midnight . Thus at the very hour when Israel Barnicoat had planned for me to be taken by the Preventive men , I hoped to be speaking to my love . In looking back I can see that my hopes were very unreasonable . How could I get Naomi to speak to me ?