midnight
Thrusting Von Heckmann out of the way , he threw himself into a chair at the end of the table and with a snarl pressed the black handle of the key . The officers gasped . Hardened as they were to the necessities of war , no act of insubordination like the present had ever occurred within their experience . Yet they must all uphold the general ; they must all swear that the gun was fired before midnight . The key clicked and a blue bead snapped at the switch . They held their breaths , looking through the window to the west . At first the night remained still .