midnights
The roomy , comfortable caravan was sold , and an old lumbering machine hired each summer instead ; while in winter the party lived from hand to mouth on their wits , putting up here , there , and anyhow . The animals had all died or been disposed of except the horses -- a pair of broken-down yet intelligent piebalds -- Puck , and Bruno , the bear that Bambo had trained from a cub , and tamed until he was as gentle as a lamb with every one but Joe , towards whom he seemed to entertain a dislike both deep and savage . As the years rolled round , Bambo became reconciled to his lot , and in course of time more than reconciled , even happy . For in the many solitary hours he passed perched above the horses upon the box of the caravan , when the soft summer wind fanned his face , or in dark , dewy midnights , when in the shelter of some leafy forest glade he felt himself alone with nature , long-forgotten words he had heard from his mother 's lips , prayers she had taught him , hymns she had crooned beside his bed , came back to his memory -- not quickly or clearly all at once , but slowly , hazily . He eagerly welcomed these memories , and hungrily held them close . At first they represented to him his mother -- gentle , pitiful , loving -- come back from the dead , and the friendless youth felt no longer desolate . Then he began to ponder the meaning of the thoughts that filled his heart and brain ; and God , by His silent lessons , conveyed through every bird that flies , every insect that crawls , each flower that raises its smiling beauty to the sun , helped him to understand .