midnight
And the moral of his reflections was , that if he stood so near to the open gate of death , he ought always to live wisely and well , and ever be prepared to pass the portals which separate time from eternity . Tom 's thoughts were sad and heavy . He could not banish from his mind the face of the rebel , as he raised his hand to his breast , where he had received his mortal wound . That countenance , full of hate and revenge , haunted him for weeks afterwards , in the solitude of his tent , and on his midnight vigils as a sentinel . As he sat in the boat , thinking of the events of the morning , and listening to the mournful rippling of the waters , which , to his subdued soul , sounded like the requiem of his victim , he was challenged from the shore again . `` Who comes there ! '' Tom jumped up , and saw a sentinel on the bank pointing his gun at him .