Midnight
Gringoire , torn from his meditations , began to watch the wild and noisy scene which surrounded him , muttering between his teeth : `` _ Luxuriosa res vinum et tumultuosa ebrietas _ . Alas ! what good reason I have not to drink , and how excellently spoke Saint-Benoît : ` _ Vinum apostatare facit etiam sapientes ! _ ''' At that moment , Clopin returned and shouted in a voice of thunder : `` Midnight ! '' At this word , which produced the effect of the call to boot and saddle on a regiment at a halt , all the outcasts , men , women , children , rushed in a mass from the tavern , with great noise of arms and old iron implements . The moon was obscured . The Cour des Miracles was entirely dark .