midnight
Had he reached the end , -- the rest by the fields of Rhadamanthus , away from human strife ? The night was ever darkening . He saw nothing , felt nothing , thought nothing save that he was still going onward , onward . * * * * * * * At some time betwixt midnight and dawning an Athenian outpost was pacing his beat outside the lines of Aristeides . The allied Hellenes were retiring from their position by the Asopus to a more convenient spot by Platæa , less exposed to the dreaded Persian cavalry , but on the night march the contingents had become disordered . The Athenians were halting under arms , -- awaiting orders from Pausanias the commander-in-chief . The outpost -- Hippon , a worthy charcoal-burner of Archarnæ -- was creeping gingerly behind the willow hedges , having a well-grounded fear of Tartar arrows .