midnight
Let him have a care , hereafter , that he does not humiliate himself . '' `` I thank thee , O Rameses . '' Saluting the prince , Hotep departed . That night he wrote to Kenkenes and to Mentu , and the two messengers departed ere midnight . Meanwhile Kenkenes seldom saw a human face . Food and water in red clay vessels , bearing the seal of Thebes , were set inside his door by disembodied hands . At intervals he saw the keeper , always attended by the inevitable scribe , but the visit was a matter of inspection and rarely was the prisoner addressed .