midnight
On he dashed ! -- on -- right on ! till they stood face to face ; and then with one quick blow , into which , as it seemed , he put but little of his strength , he hurled the burly Cassius to the earth , and fled with swift and noiseless steps into the deepest gloom . Perceiving on the instant the necessity of apprehending this now undoubted spy , the fiery Cethegus paused not one instant to look after his discomfited companions ; but rushed away on the traces of the fugitive , who had perhaps gained , at the very utmost , a dozen paces ' start of him , in that wild midnight race -- that race for life and death . The slave , for such from his dark tunic he appeared to me , was evidently both a swift and practised runner ; and well aware how great a stake was on his speed he now strained every muscle to escape , while scarce less fleet , and straining likewise every sinew to the utmost , Cethegus panted at his very heels . Before , however , they had run sixty yards , one swifter than Cethegus took up the race ; and bruised although he was , and stunned , and almost breathless when he started , ere he had overtaken his staunch friend , which he did in a space wonderfully brief , he seemed to have shaken off every ailment , and to be in the completest and most firm possession of all his wonted energies . As he caught up Cethegus , he relaxed somewhat of his speed , and ran on by his side for some few yards at a sort of springy trot , speaking the while in a deep whisper , `` Hist ! ''