midnight
When he was fairly up , he was all right , and made his way out of the house and around the corner , closely followed by Mr. Kelley and Tom . Presently he stopped , and curled up behind a water-butt , the mud spattered thick on his torn clothing , his empty holster and the stump of his crippled arm thrown out recklessly by his side , lay all that was left of Black Dan . Tom saw in a minute where he had got his cognomen . His complexion was swarthy and his hair and whiskers were as black as midnight , but for all that he had been a very handsome man . He was dead drunk , and Mr. Kelley saw that all attempts to arouse him would be useless . `` Why did n't you put him in a bed ? '' asked Tom , in accents of disgust .