midnight
Fortunately her mother had retired , and after making a hasty change of apparel , she returned unobserved to the corrals . As we quietly rode out from the inclosure , my spirits soared to the moon above us . The night was an ideal one . Crossing the Frio , we followed the divide some distance , keeping in the open , and an hour before midnight forded the Nueces at Shepherd 's . A flood of recollections crossed my mind , as our steaming horses bent their heads to drink at the ferry . Less than a year before , in this very grove , I had met her ; it was but two months since , on those hills beyond , we had gathered flowers , plighted our troth , and exchanged our first rapturous kiss . And the thought that she was renouncing home and all for my sake , softened my heart and nerved me to every exertion .