midnight
`` Should she brew him a pot of hot ale ? -- the nights were chill in winter . '' Not to-night ; he must leave without delay . When Ralph walked through the streets of Lancaster that cold midnight , it was with no certainty as to his destination . It was to be anywhere , anywhere in this race for life . Any haven that promised solitude was to be his city of refuge . The streets were quiet now , and even the roystering tipplers had gone off to their homes .