midnight
But not its deadliest ! That must come -- later -- as an aftermath . But the height or the depth was reached . The scene at midnight was unreal , livid , medieval . Dance of cannibals , dance of sun-worshipers , dance of Apaches on the war-path , dance of cliff-dwellers wild over the massacre of a dreaded foe -- only these orgies might have been comparable to that whirl of gold and lust in Beauty Stanton 's parlors . Benton seemed breathing hard , laboring under its load of evil , dancing toward its close . Night wore on and the hour of dawn approached .