midnight before
`` There had been a card transaction , '' said Willett . `` I owed Mr. Case three hundred dollars , and he or his friends thought I was going to leave without settling . He sent me a note saying he wished to see me . It was midnight before I could go down . He had left the office , but hailed me from the window of Craney 's shack . We met near the ford , had words , and I struck him -- struck him twice , knocking him down , and then his friends , or followers , as I supposed , pitched upon me . I surely saw one Indian , and , knowing ` Tonio 's -- grievance , and being warned against him , that was the last idea I had , as I was knocked senseless .