midnight
We discussed making a raft , for if we could navigate the stream we could descend it to within four miles of the old farm . But the roaring yellow torrent was clearly so tumultuous that no raft that we could build would hold together for a minute ; and we resigned ourselves to pass another night in the camp . The end of the thaw was at hand , however ; at sunset the sky lightened , and during the evening the stars came out . At midnight , while replenishing the fire , I heard smart gusts of wind blowing from the northwest . It was clearing off cold . Noticing that it seemed very light outside , I went to the door and saw the bright arch of a splendid aurora spanning the whole sky . It was so beautiful that I waked Addison to see it .