midnight
But revenge did not then occupy Zbyszko 's mind ; his only thought was for Danusia . He lived between flashes of hope when there were momentary signs of improvement , and gloomy despair when she got worse , and as far as her latter condition was concerned , he could not deceive himself . A superstitious thought struck him more than once at the beginning of the journey , that there was , somewhere in the pathless regions they were passing , death , riding along with them , step by step , lying in wait for the moment when he might fall upon Danusia and wring from her the last breath of life . That vision or feeling became especially pronounced at dark midnight , so much so , that more than once he was seized with a despairing desire to return and challenge death to a combat to a finish , in the same fashion as knights are wont to do toward each other . But at the end of the journey it became worse , because he felt that death was not following them , but was in the very midst of the retinue ; invisible truly , but so near that its cold breath could be felt . Then he understood that against such an enemy , courage , strength and arms are counted as nothing and that he would be obliged to surrender the most precious head as a prey without even a struggle . And that was a most terrible feeling , because it roused within him a tempestuous , irresistible sorrow , a sorrow , bottomless as the sea .