Midnight
_ And so she made excuse both for the barbarity of war and the savagery which followed it by tracing both to their origin . She did not believe that human nature changed in an hour , but that centuries past bore fruit in centuries to come . She thought that the former master must be healed by the slow medicament of time before he could be able to recognize in all men the sanctity of manhood ; as well as that the freedman must be taught to know and to defend his rights . When she left the cemetery , she mounted Midnight for a farewell ride . The next morning , before he arose , Hesden Le Moyne heard the neigh of his old war-horse , and , springing from his bed , he ran out and found him hitched at his gate . A note was tied with a blue ribbon to his jetty forelock . He removed it , and read : `` I return your noble horse with many thanks for the long loan .