About midnight
Rain fell in torrents , and wind in fitful gusts swept among the tombs , chilling the prisoners to the very bone . It is probable that the guards would , for their own comfort , have kept a slack look-out , had not their own lives depended a good deal on their fidelity . As it was , the vigil was not so strict as it might have been ; and they found it impossible to see the whole of that long narrow space of ground in so dark a night . About midnight the sentry fancied he saw three figures flitting across the yard . Putting his musket through the bars of the gate he fired at once , but could not see whether he had done execution ; and so great was the noise of the wind and rain that the report of his piece was not audible more than a few paces from where he stood , except to leeward . Alarms were too frequent in those days to disturb people much . A few people , no doubt , heard the shot ; listened , perchance , for a moment or two , and then , turning in their warm beds , continued their repose .