midnight
My words will be few , therefore , O king , I pray thee hear me patiently . `` These men who now stand before thee and by whose continual importunity thou gavest thy signature for the arrest of thy servant Daniel , are wicked and deceitful men , and with lying words have they deceived thee , O king . Their secret devices are well known to thy servant . With mine own ears have I listened to their midnight plotting ; and from their own lips have I learned their fixed purpose to destroy the innocent without cause , even thy servant Daniel . For many months , O king , these cruel men have sought an occasion against the first president , and after having failed in every other point , they thought at last of this . `` I heard the plot described at midnight recently while resting in the public garden . The conspiracy was led by Fraggood and Kinggron .