midnight
Sunday dawned with the very flood-gates of heaven opening , so it seemed . All day long the river was rising under its miles of unbroken ice , rising at the threatening rate of four inches an hour . Edgewood went to bed as usual that night , for the bridge at that point was set too high to be carried away by freshets , but at other villages whose bridges were in less secure position there was little sleep and much anxiety . At midnight a cry was heard from the men watching at Milliken 's Mills . The great ice jam had parted from Rolfe 's Island and was swinging out into the open , pushing everything before it . All the able-bodied men in the village turned out of bed , and with lanterns in hand began to clear the stores and mills , for it seemed that everything near the river banks must go before that avalanche of ice . Stephen and Rufus were there helping to save the property of their friends and neighbors ; Rose and Mite Shapley had stayed the night with a friend , and all three girls were shivering with fear and excitement as they stood near the bridge , watching the never-to-be-forgotten sight .