midnight
To escape his odious addresses , I plunged a dagger in my breast . I would rather die than belong to him . For weeks I lay between life and death , and when I recovered I determined to flee . A midnight attack on the Ajassuas tribe , as the Khouan caste was termed , gave me the opportunity . I made good my escape , and wandered on and on until I sank senseless from exhaustion on the ground . `` When I recovered my senses I found myself in an oasis near a rippling brook , the clear , cool water of which slaked my thirst , and the fruit of a date-tree stilled my hunger . Guiding myself by the stars I took a northern direction , hoping to find some Frenchman who had been my father 's friend .