about midnight
`` He will be a very present help in time of trouble . '' But he sat at his dark little window , looking over at the place of his covenant until the shadowy , ethereal greyness of the dawn concentrated itself in a glorious bar on the eastern horizon and gradually grew into the great awakening of another day . He had been disturbed in his meditations and prayers only once . At about midnight , a laughing crowd of young folk passed the house on their way to the village . They were returning from a husking bee . Duncan could hear their noisy , gay chatter , and among the merriest voices he could distinguish the one that he had once hoped would call all the youth of his valley to a higher and better life . When Donald Neil left Glenoro his pastor drew a breath of relief .