midnight
When the men left us there Ann bent over him and laid a wet kerchief on his hot head , and he presently opened his eyes a little way , and pointed with his left hand , which was sound , to the end of the bed-place where his feet lay , and murmured , scarce to be heard and as though he were lost : `` The letter , oh , the letter ! '' But then he lost his senses ; and presently he said the same words again and again . So his heart and brain were full of one thing , and that was the letter which some one -- and who else than his well-beloved Master -- had straitly charged him to deliver rightly . Every word he might speak in his fever might give us some important tidings , and when at midnight my aunt bid us go to bed , Ann declared it to be her purpose to keep watch by Eppelein all night , and I would not for the world have quitted her at such a moment . And whereas she well knew Master Ulsenius , and had already lent a helping hand of her own free will to old Uhlwurm , the tending the sick man was wholly given over to her ; and I sat me down by the fire , gazing sometimes at the leaping flames and flying sparks , and sometimes at the sick-bed and at all Ann was doing . Then I waxed sleepy , and the hours flew past while I sat wide awake , or dreaming as I slept for a few minutes . Then it was morning again , and there was somewhat before my eyes whereof I knew not whether it were happening in very truth , or whether it were still a dream , yet meseemed it was so pleasant that I was still smiling when the house-keeper came in , and that chased sleep away .