two hours after midnight
`` Put out the torches ! '' shouted Kara Makan , who was holding a huge concave buckler in front of him , and felt a third bullet pierce through the twofold layers of buffalo-hide and graze his body . The torches went out one after another , whereupon the spacious court-yard was darkened ; only the flash of firearms cast an occasional gleam of light upon the struggling mass . It might have been two hours after midnight when suddenly there was a cessation of hostilities . Both sides were weary , and ceased firing ; the Janissaries whispered amongst themselves , and at last in the midst of a deep silence , Kara Makan 's thunderous voice made itself heard : `` Listen , all of ye who are inside the Seraglio . Ye are good warriors , and we are good warriors also , and it is folly for the Faithful to destroy one another . We did not take up arms to slay you and plunder the Seraglio , neither do we wish to kill the Padishah nor the heir to the throne ; but we would rescue them from the hands of the traitors who surround them , and we would also deliver the realm from faithless Viziers and counsellors .