midnight
She left with her mother the means of procuring such comforts as she considered might be suitable to her in the alternative of her convalescence , and had got more than home when she felt startled for a by the appearance of a person who seemed to have been engaged in some of these nightly outrages that were then so numerous in the country . The person in question had just leaped from an open breach in the hedge which bounded the right-hand side of the road exactly opposite where she was passing . The stranger 's appearance was certainly calculated to excite terror , especially in a female ; for although he did not wear the shirt over his clothes , his face was so deeply blackened that a single shade of his complexion could not be recognized . We need not again assure our readers that Julia Purcel possessed the characteristic firmness and courage of her family , but notwithstanding this she felt somewhat alarmed at the appearance of a lawless Whiteboy , who was at that moment most probably on his return from the perpetration of some midnight atrocity . This alarm was increased on seeing that the person in question approached her , as if with some deliberate intent . -LSB- Illustration : PAGE 445 -- Alarmed at the appearance of a lawless Whiteboy -RSB- `` Stand back , sir , '' she exclaimed . `` What can you mean by approaching me ?