midnight
So strong , so active , and so impelling , indeed , seems this principle , that no sooner goes forth the dread tale of homicide , than all community rise up , as one man , instinctively impressed with the duty of hunting down the guilty and bringing them to justice ; while the guilty themselves seem no less instinctively impressed with the abiding consciousness that the doom , which heaven and earth has decreed to their crimes , must inevitably overtake them . Deep and fearful was the excitement , in the hitherto quiet and peaceful village of Westminster , as from mouth to mouth , and house to house , spread the startling intelligence , that a meeting of unarmed citizens , assembled at the Court House , had been assailed , and numbers shot down in cold blood by the minions of British authority . The whole town was soon in commotion . No loud noise or clamor of voices , it is true , was heard proclaiming the deed on the midnight air ; but the rapid footfalls of men hurrying along the streets , the hastily exchanged inquiry , the eager , suppressed tones of those conversing in small groups at the corners and by-places around the village , the hasty opening and shutting of doors , and the dancing of lights in every direction , gave ominous indication of the feeling that had every where been awakened , and the secret movement which was everywhere afoot among the people . A small band , who had gathered in the yard of what was called the People 's Tavern , were listening , with many a demonstration of horror and indignation , to the account of one who had escaped from the Court House after the tories had got possession . `` Where are our leaders , Morris ? '' asked one of the listeners , as the speaker , a fluent , energetic young man , closed his recital of the atrocities he had witnessed .