midnight
There was an elasticity in the mind of our heroine that rose to meet the pressure of instant danger , and the more direct it had been , the more her nature had struggled to overcome them . But still she was a woman . Had she been left to herself in her late extremity , she would probably have used her faculties to the utmost , and with discretion , in protecting her person ; but , encumbered with her inanimate friend , retreat was a thing not to be attempted . Notwithstanding the fearful aspect of her foe , the eye of Elizabeth had never shrunk from its gaze , and long after the event her thoughts would recur to her passing sensations , and the sweetness of her midnight sleep would be disturbed , as her active fancy conjured , in dreams , the most trifling movements of savage fury that the beast had exhibited in its moment of power . We shall leave the reader to imagine the restoration of Louisa 's senses , and the expressions of gratitude which fell from the young women . The former was effected by a little water , that was brought from one of the thousand springs of those mountains , in the cap of the Leather-Stocking ; and the latter were uttered with the warmth that might be expected from the character of Elizabeth . Natty received her vehement protestations of gratitude with a simple expression of good-will , and with indulgence for her present excitement , but with a carelessness that showed how little he thought of the service he had rendered .