midnight
I longed now for that darkness of our own earth which would make it so much easier for us to conceal our movements . Miela relieved my mind on that score , however , by explaining that at nearly the same hour almost every one in the city fell asleep . The physical desire for sleep was , I learned , much stronger with the Mercutians than with us ; and only by the drinking of a certain medicinal beverage could they ward it off . It was after the evening meal , at a time which might have corresponded to an hour or so before midnight , that the selected eighteen girls began to arrive . Miela brought them into the living room with us until they were all together . It was a curious gathering -- this bevy of Mercutian maidens . They all seemed between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three -- fragile , dainty little wisps of femininity , yet having a strength in their highly developed wing muscles that was truly surprising .