midnight
The fatigue which had exhausted Flammock and the monk , was unfelt by the two anxious maidens , who remained with their eyes bent , now upon the dim landscape , now on the stars by which it was lighted , as if they could have read there the events which the morrow was to bring forth . It was a placid and melancholy scene . Tree and field , and hill and plain , lay before them in doubtful light , while at greater distance , their eye could with difficulty trace one or two places where the river , hidden in general by banks and trees , spread its more expanded bosom to the stars , and the pale crescent . All was still , excepting the solemn rush of the waters , and now and then the shrill tinkle of a harp , which , heard from more than a mile 's distance through the midnight silence , announced that some of the Welshmen still protracted their most beloved amusement . The wild notes , partially heard , seemed like the voice of some passing spirit ; and , connected as they were with ideas of fierce and unrelenting hostility , thrilled on Eveline 's ear , as if prophetic of war and wo , captivity and death . The only other sounds which disturbed the extreme stillness of the night , were the occasional step of a sentinel upon his post , or the hooting of the owls , which seemed to wail the approaching downfall of the moonlight turrets , in which they had established their ancient habitations . The calmness of all around seemed to press like a weight on the bosom of the unhappy Eveline , and brought to her mind a deeper sense of present grief , and keener apprehension of future horrors , than had reigned there during the bustle , blood , and confusion of the preceding day .