midnight
When the people heard this resolve of his , they came and told him there was a pitiless dragon in human disguise in the Haunted Cave , a dread creature which no knight had yet been bold enough to face , and begged him to rid the land of its desolating presence . He said he would do it . They told him about the song , and when he asked what song it was , they said the memory of it was gone , for nobody had been hardy enough to listen to it for the past four years and more . Toward midnight the Crusader came floating down the river in a boat , with his trusty cross-bow in his hands . He drifted silently through the dim reflections of the crags and trees , with his intent eyes fixed upon the low cliff which he was approaching . As he drew nearer , he discerned the black mouth of the cave . Now -- is that a white figure ?