midnight on Thursday
the 12th April
Andrew , after waking with difficulty his grandfather , was told to go up and head them off . He sent the dog one way -- off in a flash , he never returned that night -- and himself went another . He was not seen again for two days . To be exact , he set out at midnight on Thursday the 12th April , and did not return to Dryhope until eleven o'clock of the morning of Saturday the 14th . The sheep , I may say here , came back by themselves on the 13th , the intervening day . That night of the 12th April is still commemorated in Dryhope as one of unexampled spring storm , just as a certain October night of the next year stands yet as the standard of comparison for all equinoctial gales . The April storm , we hear , was very short and had several peculiar features .