midnight
'T is hot work this . '' He sat down on the bed and took up Arithelli 's thin wrist . In his shirt sleeves , with his hair well on end , and his robust voice very little subdued below its usual pitch , Michael did not convey the impression that he was capable of taking either Life or Death in a serious spirit . He talked on gaily , in no way depressed by his unsympathetic audience , telling tales of his own escapades in the matter of fighting and love-making , of wild midnight steeplechases ridden across unknown country , and the delights of the fair town by the river Lee . Once he stopped talking for a few minutes to boil some more water on the stove that Arithelli sometimes used for making coffee , and to renew the application of leaves . The fact that his patient was in exactly the same condition of stupor , and had not stirred , did not discourage Michael 's optimistic views of her recovery . `` Ye must give it time , me bhoy , '' he told Emile .