midnight
By following the margin of the water , taking a northern direction , she soon encountered the Indian who paced the strand as sentinel . This was a young warrior , and when he heard her light tread coming along the gravel he approached swiftly , though with anything but menace in his manner . The darkness was so intense that it was not easy to discover forms within the shadows of the woods at the distance of twenty feet , and quite impossible to distinguish persons until near enough to touch them . The young Huron manifested disappointment when he found whom he had met ; for , truth to say , he was expecting his favourite , who had promised to relieve the ennui of a midnight watch with her presence . This man was also ignorant of English , but he was at no loss to understand why the girl should be up at that hour . Such things were usual in an Indian village and camp , where sleep is as irregular as the meals . Then poor Hetty 's known imbecility , as in most things connected with the savages , stood her friend on this occasion .