midnight
He formulated nothing ; concluded nothing ; he rejected every conjecture which temporarily constructed itself in his almost passive mind . He did not even yet fully understand that the question he had asked of himself months before -- the question that had tortured him so keenly -- as to whether these Christians who ruled had not forgotten how to suffer -- had been answered with dreadful distinctness . He just perceived that the young Roman prince had been gallant ; that the old man had been more gallant still , since those to whom he came had already proved that they would keep their word . And now the third day was drawing to an end , and by midnight suspense would be over . The fog still hung over the city ; but towards sunset it lifted a little , and he raised his heavy head from his breast as he lay , half sitting , half lying , on the tumbled sofa and blankets on which he had slept , to see the red sunlight on the wall above him . It was a curious room to a man who had grown accustomed to modern ways ; there was a faded carpet on the floor , paper on the walls , and the old-fashioned electric globes hung , each on its wire , from the whitewashed ceiling . He saw that it must be a survival , or perhaps a deliberate archaicism ... .