midnight
The birds woke one after another . The truants hurried back . Just as carefully as when they had set out , they returned to the room , with its thick atmosphere , and Jean-Christophe , worn out , fell into bed , and slept at once , with his body sweet-smelling with the smell of the fields . All was well , and nothing would have been known , but that one day Ernest , his younger brother , betrayed Jean-Christophe 's midnight sallies . From that moment they were forbidden , and he was watched . But he contrived to escape , and he preferred the society of the little peddler and his friends to any other . His family was scandalized .