midnight
`` McIver 's ! '' `` The factory ! '' The Interpreter said , quietly , `` Jake Vodell . '' With every second the red glow grew brighter -- reaching higher and higher -- spreading wider and wider over the midnight sky . Then they could see the flames -- threadlike streaks and flashes in the dark cloud of smoke at first but increasing in volume , climbing and climbing in writhing , twisting columns of red fury . The wild , long-drawn shriek of the fire whistles , the clanging roar of the engines , the frantic rush of speeding automobiles awoke the echoes of the cliffs and aroused the sleeping creatures on the hillsides . The volume of the leaping , whirling mass of flames increased until the red glare shut out the stars .