midnight
He could see the darkened looks of the proud ; he could hear the execration of the disappointed ; he could feel the tears of the true-hearted at the downfall of a life that had looked so fair . In the frenzy of that last hour of trial , it seemed as if he was contending , not with man and the world , but with the devil , who was using both to make this bitter irony of his position -- who was bribing him with worldly glory that he might damn his soul forever . And therein lay a temptation that sat closer at his side -- the temptation to turn his face and fly away . It was midnight . The moon was shining on the boundless plain of the sea . He was in the slack water of the soul , when the ebb is spent , before the tide has begun to flow . Oh , to leave everything behind -- the shame and the glory together !