Midnight
It was plain that he had spoken their general thought ; but they were all too hot and sleepy to debate even a point of safety . Thus , in stupor or doubt , they watched another afternoon burn low by invisible degrees , like a great fire dying . Another breathless evening settled over all -- at first with a dusty , copper light , widespread , as though sky and land were seen through smoked glass ; another dusk , of deep , sad blue ; and when this had given place to night , another mysterious lull . Midnight drew on , and no further change had come . Prowlers , made bold by the long silence in the nunnery , came and went under the very walls of the compound . In the court , beside a candle , Ah Pat the compradore sat with a bundle of halberds and a whetstone , sharpening edge after edge , placidly , against the time when there should be no more cartridges . Heywood and Rudolph stood near the water gate , and argued with Gilbert Forrester , who would not quit his post for either of them .