midnight
`` Is there yet time ? '' he said . Then I answered that I thought we might wait in peace for so long , and he , knowing nothing of the nearness of the Danes , consented . So we bided there in the aisle benches to wait till midnight was past , and soon one or two of the men slept quietly . Now , when it may have been almost midnight , and the time for mass would soon be come , the bishop , who had been so still that I thought he slept , lifted his head and looked towards the altar . And at the same time my dog whined a little beside me . Then Humbert the Bishop rose up and held out both his hands as to one whom he would greet , and spoke softly .