midnight
`` Yes , '' answered she . `` See that you give the alarm in season , '' returned the muffled figure , as he took the basket from the woman 's hand , and passed softly down the steps of the piazza . Silently the destroying fires were lighted . But the midnight incendiary would have proceeded less deliberately with his work of destruction , had he marked the tall , lank figure in a long , dark overcoat , and slouching-brimmed hat , which slowly dogged closely his every footstep . Suddenly a bright flash leaped up from the fragments the wicked man sought to enkindle , and revealed his garb and features . A mingled expression of hatred and revenge glared from the sunken eyes of his follower , who stood in the shadow of a linden near by , as the pale , handsome features and light , curling locks of the incendiary met his gaze . `` Villain ! ''