midnight
`` Yes , they will take you , '' said Andrew ; `` or if you can not go with our band -- for as yet I know not that we are for Andalusia -- you can go with another which we shall fall in with in a couple of days ; and if you give them some of the money you have about you , they will be able and willing to help you out of still worse difficulties . '' He then left the young man , and reported to the other gipsies what the stranger desired , and the offer he had made of good payment for their services . They were all for having their guest remain in the camp ; but Preciosa was against it ; and her grandmother said , that she could not go to Seville or its neighbourhood , on account of a hoax she had once played off upon a capmaker named Truxillo , well known in Seville . She had persuaded him to put himself up to his neck in a butt of water , stark naked , with a crown of cypress on his head , there to remain till midnight , when he was to step out , and look for a great treasure , which she had made him believe was concealed in a certain part of his house . When the good cap-maker heard matins ring , he made such haste to get out of the butt , lest he should lose his chance , that it fell with him , bruising his flesh , and deluging the floor with water , in which he fell to swimming with might and main , roaring out that he was drowning . His wife and his neighbours ran to him with lights , and found him striking out lustily with his legs and arms . `` Help !