midnight
Let him go , and he will walk the streets with a swagger , and boast that you were afraid to touch him -- _ afraid _ , gentlemen -- and children and women will point after him as the man who has sent nine others into eternity , and who yet walks the streets a free man . And he will become , in the eyes of the young and the weak , a hero and a god . This is unfortunate , but it is true . `` Now , gentlemen , we want to keep the streets of this city so safe that a woman can walk them at midnight without fear of insult , and a man can express his opinion on the corner without being shot in the back for doing so . '' The District Attorney turned from the jury with a bow , and faced Judge Truax . `` For the last ten years , your honor , this man , Abner Barrow , has been serving a term of imprisonment in the State penitentiary ; I ask you to send him back there again for the remainder of his life . It will be the better place for him , and we will be happier in knowing we have done our duty in placing him there .