midnight
This required several moments of time , and the confusion and uproar which they were compelled to make was rousing the town . Mr. Parris , half-dressed , ran barefoot through the town , waving his long arms in the air , and shouting that the fiends of the air had conspired to liberate the prisoners . His words and his wild , fanatical manner tended rather to increase the fear of the people of Salem , than diminish it . Then there went out the report through the village that the Indians had attacked the town , and the people , roused from their midnight slumbers , magnified the numbers of the assailants ten to one . `` Cora ! Mother ! '' whispered Charles , `` this way ! ''