midnight
I bade them put the woman forward first , and addressed her sternly , telling her that I knew all , and that she would do well to confess ; inasmuch as if she made a clean breast of the matter , I would grant her her life , and if she did not , she would be the first to die , since I would hang her were a single shot fired against the house . The promise found her unmoved , but the threat , uttered in a tone which showed that I was in earnest , proved more effectual . With an ugly look , under which my men shrank as if her eye had power to scorch them , the hag said that she would confess , and , with impotent rage , admitted the truth of Boisrueil 's surmises . The rearward gate had been barricaded that afternoon by the Great Band , who had had notice of our coming , and intended to attack us at midnight . I asked her how many they mustered . `` A hundred , '' she answered sullenly . `` Very well , '' I said .