midnight
we is in Del-a-a-ware ! '' A little warming , kindly light at length began to blaze their trail along , as if some gentle predecessor , with a golden adze , had chipped the funereal trees and made them smile a welcome . Small fires were burning in the vegetable mould or surface brush , and the opacity of the forest yielded to the pretty flame which danced and almost sang in a household crackle , like a young girl in love humming tunes as she kindles a fire . The mighty swamp now grew distinct , yet more inaccessible , as its inner edges seemed transparent in the line of fires , like curtains of lace against the midnight window-panes . The Virginia creeper , light as the flounces of a lady , went whirling upward , as if in a dance ; the fallen giant trees were rich in hanging moss ; laurel and jasmine appeared beyond the bubbling surface of long , green morass , where life of some kind seemed to turn over comfortably in the rising warmth , like sleepers in bed . Suddenly the man took Virgie up and carried her through a stream of running water , brown with the tannin matter of the swamp . `` We is in Delaware , '' he said , soon after , as they reached a camp of shingle sawyers , all deserted , and lighted by the fire , the golden chips strewn around , and the sawdust , like Indian meal , that suggested good , warm pone at Teackle Hall to Virgie .