midnight
The skin on them was fine and brown ; it looked as soft as a woman 's . He used them a good deal when talking , and not ungracefully ; but they seemed to claw and grasp the air , to be independent of the arms hidden in the voluminous sleeves of the smart brown cassock . Other people watched those hands too -- they seemed to possess a magnetism of their own ; and every one showed this priest great deference : he was one of the most successful disciplinarians in the Department of California , a brilliant speaker , an able adviser in matters of state , and a man of many social graces . `` More agreeable to meet in the sala of the Mission than in a cave at midnight , '' thought Roldan . `` Still -- '' His scent for danger , particularly if it involved a matching of wits , was very keen . The word was given . The race began .