midnight
He questioned Jesus , but Jesus could not answer him ; and there seemed to be no other way but to carry him in his arms out of the tomb , place him on the rock , and from thence hoist him on to his shoulders . Jesus was carried more easily than he thought for , as easily carried as a child for the first hundred yards , nor did he weigh much heavier for the next , but before three hundred yards were over Joseph began to look round for a rock against which he might rest his burden . One of the hardships of this journey was that howsoever he held Jesus he seemed to cause him great pain , and he guessed by the feel that the body was wounded in many places ; but the stars did not show sufficient light for him to see where not to grasp it , and he sat in the pathway , resting Jesus across his knees , thinking of a large rock within sight of his own gates and how he would lean Jesus against it , if he managed to carry him so far . He stopped at sight of something , something seemed to slink through the pale , diffused shadows in and out of the rocks up the hillside , and Joseph thought of a midnight wolf . The wolves did not venture as near the city , but -- Whatever Joseph saw with his eyes , or fancied he saw , did not appear again , and he picked up his load , thinking of the hopeless struggle it would be between him and a grey wolf burdened as he was . He could not do else than leave Jesus to be eaten , and his fear of wolf and hyena so exhausted him that he nearly toppled at the next halt . A fall would be fatal to Jesus , and Joseph asked himself how he would lift Jesus on to his shoulder again .