midnight
Just the first it is which has tempted her forth ; while the last , not the cold , has caused her to cloak herself , and go close hooded . If her father but knew of the errand she is on , it could not be executed . And well is she aware of this . For the proud planter is still proud , despite his reverses , still clings to the phantom of social superiority ; and if he saw her now , wandering through the woods at an hour near midnight , alone ; if he could divine her purpose : to meet a man , who in time past has been rather coldly received at his house -- because scarce ranking with his own select circle -- had Colonel Armstrong but the gift of clairvoyance , in all probability he would at once suspend the preparations for departure , rush to his rifle , then off through the woods on the track of his erring daughter , with the intent to do a deed sanguinary as that recorded , if not so repulsive . The girl has not far to go -- only half a mile or so , from the house , and less than a quarter beyond the zigzag rail fence , which forms a boundary line between the maize fields and primeval forest . Her journey , when completed , will bring her under a tree -- a grand magnolia , monarch of the forest surrounding . Well does she know it , as the way thither .