midnight
`` It is well , '' I answered wearily ; `` little do I reck the issue . '' `` Rest thou , then , here , Harmachis , while I make these matters ready ; and , Harmachis , grieve not overmuch ; there are others who should grieve more heavily than thou . '' And she went , leaving me alone with my agony which rent me like a torture-bed . Had it not been for that fierce desire of vengeance which from time to time flashed across my tormented mind as the lightning over a midnight sea , methinks my reason had left me in that dark hour . At length I heard her footstep at the door , and she entered , breathing heavily , for she bore a sack of clothing in her arms . `` It is well , '' she said : `` here is the garb with spare linen , and writing-tablets , and all things needful . I have seen Brennus also , and told him that a Syrian merchant would pass the guard an hour before the dawn .