midnight
There flashed into her mind a thought of another continent , where death was riding ruthless over countless thousands . There , under a new identity , this miserable creature might return to his manhood , might once again exercise his great skill in behalf of suffering humanity , might indeed atone for the past , might win a martyr 's crown ... . If he could but be smuggled out of the country ! It was hours past midnight now ; a ghostly trace of dawn showed in the eastern sky . The physician , it was evident , was fighting desperately against the anguish induced by his abstinence after over-indulgence in the drug . But , presently , he noted through the open doorway the lightening of the horizon . Once again , now , he spoke to Ethel .