midnight
Seizing a knife he drove the party from the house , but not until he had wounded several of the wretches , among whom was Drentell . Kusel had saved his daughter 's honor , but he well knew that he had forfeited his life if he remained in the village . Packing up the few household articles that yet remained , he and his daughter fled from Pinsk to find protection with friends in a distant town . At midnight , the officers , now reinforced by a number of sympathizing comrades , returned , and furious at the escape of their victim , burned his dwelling to the ground . Drentell never forgot his ignominious repulse nor the wound he received at the hands of Haim Kusel . His own offence counted as naught , so blunted was his moral sense . To inflict misery upon a Jew was at all times considered meritorious , but for a Jew to so far forget himself as to assault an officer of the Czar , was a crime for which the whole race would one day be held accountable .