midnight
`` Surely , '' he replied , smiling . `` Are you not both my friends , and can Otho von Reuss be forgetful of old times ? Come and go at your pleasure . Be sure to be here to give me your answer at midnight to-night -- or -- '' He pointed with his hand to the door he had again opened , and with the fingers of his other hand beat time to the blasphemous chorus which came belching up from below . Dazed and death-stricken by the horror of the choice which lay before me , I hastened down the street , hardly waiting for Dessauer , who toiled vainly after me . I knew not what to do nor where to turn . I could neither think nor speak .