midnight
`` Ten minutes to eleven . '' `` I must go . '' He said no word ; but he put up his hands to my face , and made me bend to him , and kissed me . * * * * * Before midnight one of General Morell 's orderlies had passed me through our cavalry pickets beyond Mechanicsville . The Doctor 's stimulant , or something else , gave me strength , My mind was clear and my will firm . True , I felt indifferent to life ; but the lesson which the Doctor had given me I had clearly understood , and I had voluntarily turned the die for duty after it had been cast for ease . All my hesitation had gone , leaving in its place disgust kept down by effort , but kept down .