midnight
And it was fortunate that he was ignorant of it . Could he have withstood this fresh trial ? Michael Strogoff urged on his horse , imbuing him with all his own feverish impatience , requiring of him one thing only , namely , to bear him rapidly to the next posting-house , where he could be exchanged for a quicker conveyance . At midnight he had cleared fifty miles , and halted at the station of Koulikovo . But there , as he had feared , he found neither horses nor carriages . Several Tartar detachments had passed along the highway of the steppe . Everything had been stolen or requisitioned both in the villages and in the posting-houses .