midnight
Come , help me with this bandage . '' She sighed heavily , but immediately ceased to weep , and said `` Yes , '' calmly and with firmness . Bending beside her brother , without faltering or shrinking , she gave her white fingers to the painful task . In the stormy midnight , by the fitful glare of the dying embers , those two silent men and that pale woman seemed to be keeping a vigil in an abode of death . And the pattering rain and moan of the night-wind sounded like a dirge . Several gentlemen of the neighborhood , whom Beverly , upon hearing little Phil 's story , had hastily summoned to his assistance , now entered the cabin , together with the male negroes of his household , who had mounted the farm horses and eagerly followed to the rescue of their young mistress . They had been detained without by an unsuccessful pursuit of Rawbon , whose flight they had discovered , but who had easily evaded them in the darkness .