midnight
I wish her no harm , God knows ! '' The negro said an humble good-night , and the Judge lay down upon his bed to think of the dread alternatives of the coming week ; but , voluptuous even in despair , he slept before he had come to any conclusion . Samson Hat walked up the side of the mill-pond on a sandy road , divided from the water by a dense growth of pines . The bullfrogs and insects serenaded the forest ; the furnace chimney smoked lurid on the midnight . At the distance of half a mile or more an old cabin , in decay , stood in a sandy field near the road ; it had no door in the hollow doorway , no sash in the one gaping window ; the step was broken leading to the sill , and some of the weather-boarding had rotted from the skeleton . The old end-chimney bore it toughly up , however , and the low brick props under the corners stood plumb . Within lay a single room with open beams , a sort of cupboard stairway projecting over the fireplace , and another door and window were in the rear .