Midnight
`` Keep the law , ` Hold fast ' ! You made a splendid race of it , and if Providence made that fellow lose you gettin ' out , and led him and his gang sideways from you , I reckon she will keep on takin ' care of you till Clarenden resumes control , so do n't you worry . '' But for his brave presence the terror of that lonely watch would have been harder than the peril of the street , for he seemed more like a gentle mother than the careless , scoffing invalid of the trail . Midnight came , and the chill of midnight . We huddled together in our wagon and still we waited . Down in the village the lights still burned , and angry voices with curses came to our ears at intervals . Meantime the three men across the river moved cautiously , hoping that we were safe on the bluff , and knowing that they dared not follow us too rapidly .