midnight
And Perion laughed , not very mirthfully . `` It is the common usage of women to ask of men this little labour , which is a harder task than ever Hercules , that mighty-muscled king of heathenry , achieved . Nay , I , for all my sinews , am an attested weakling . The craft of other men I do not fear , for I have encountered no formidable enemy save myself ; but that same midnight stabber unhorsed me long ago . I had wallowed in the mire contentedly enough until you came ... . Ah , child , child ! why needed you to trouble me !