midnight
Of course the fat was in the fire at once ; we were set upon , seized , bound hand and foot with reins , and flung just anyhow into a hut . `` That occurred during the afternoon . About an hour before sunset they came and dragged out Van Raalte , and carried him away , leaving me where I was ; and shortly afterward I heard a man start screaming as I wish never again to hear a man scream , so long as I live . The screaming lasted for hours , until past midnight I should think ; and all the while I was lying there in that hut , as helpless as a baby , and sweating with horror at the awful , hair-raising sounds that pierced my ears . At length , however , the shrieks grew weaker and more intermittent , and finally they died away altogether . The night seemed endless , for what with the horror that seized me as I lay there listening and trying to imagine what was happening , and the excruciating pain of my tightly bound limbs , sleep was an impossibility ; but the morning dawned at last , the village awoke , and an hour or two later I was unbound and led forth . They took me to a place about a quarter of a mile away , and showed me -- something which they told me was all that remained of Van Raalte .