midnight
`` Good night , and a good watch , gentlemen ; we shall meet to-morrow , and I hope we shall march ! '' The officers saluted , and the Rittmeister slowly walked back to the village through the dark night . The two lieutenants determined to sleep an hour each alternately through the night , whilst the other watched . So midnight passed , and all was silence at the outposts , whilst new troops poured into Göttingen , reserves and recruits streaming in from every part of the country ; for all the young men desired to be enrolled in the army . The new general staff worked all night long ; much was debated and written in the great aula of Georgia Augusta , and at last it was decided that the army must remain four days longer in Göttingen , in order to prepare for the march . Four days is a long time when events may be counted by hours . FOOTNOTES : -LSB- Footnote 1 : `` Was du dein Augenblick verloren , Bringt keine Ewigkeit zurück . '' -RSB-