midnight
-- will she ever dare to read them all again ? Yes , -- she reads them all , -- each one twice over , -- and his soldier diary , -- which John Wildair saved and sent home , and , as she lays it down , the clock strikes twelve . Christmas day is born ! -- `` And at midnight there was a cry made , Behold , the bridegroom cometh . '' Laura fairly repeated this aloud . She knew that the other carcel must be wound again . She dressed herself for the fight thoroughly .