midnight
Sylvia wandered about the house and garden with Estralla , telling the little colored girl of the home in Boston which she soon hoped to see . The hours passed , and the streets of Charleston grew strangely quiet . At sunset everything was calm , and no sound of guns disturbed the peace of the April evening , and Sylvia went to bed at the usual hour , not thinking that she would be wakened by the roar of cannon . The older members of the family sat up until after midnight . The sea was calm , and the night still under the bright starlight . At last they decided to retire , but there was little sleep for them that night . At half-past four the next morning the sound of guns from Fort Johnson broke upon the stillness .