midnight
Volume Two of Three by John Richardson It was on the evening of that day , so fertile in melancholy incident , to which our first volume has been devoted , that the drawbridge of Detroit was , for the third time since the investment of the garrison , lowered ; not , as previously , with a disregard of the intimation that might be given to those without by the sullen and echoing rattle of its ponderous chains , but with a caution attesting how much secrecy of purpose was sought to be preserved . There was , however , no array of armed men within the walls , that denoted an expedition of a hostile character . Overcome with the harassing duties of the day , the chief portion of the troops had retired to rest , and a few groups of the guard alone were to be seen walking up and down in front of their post , apparently with a view to check the influence of midnight drowsiness , but , in reality , to witness the result of certain preparations going on by torchlight in the centre of the barrack square . In the midst of an anxious group of officers , comprising nearly all of that rank within the fort , stood two individuals , attired in a costume having nothing in common with the gay and martial habiliments of the former . They were tall , handsome young men , whose native elegance of carriage was but imperfectly hidden under an equipment evidently adopted for , and otherwise fully answering , the purpose of disguise . A blue cotton shell jacket , closely fitting to the person , trowsers of the same material , a pair of strong deer-skin mocassins , and a coloured handkerchief tied loosely round the collar of a checked shirt , the whole surmounted by one of those rough blanket coats , elsewhere described , formed the principal portion of their garb .