About midnight
There was another brief interval . Christmas was almost come ; and because the snow still held , and the searching cold , morning after morning Jurgis half carried his wife to her post , staggering with her through the darkness ; until at last , one night , came the end . It lacked but three days of the holidays . About midnight Marija and Elzbieta came home , exclaiming in alarm when they found that Ona had not come . The two had agreed to meet her ; and , after waiting , had gone to the room where she worked ; only to find that the ham-wrapping girls had quit work an hour before , and left . There was no snow that night , nor was it especially cold ; and still Ona had not come ! Something more serious must be wrong this time .