midnight
For there was nothing else that could be done at the farm-house -- except wait and hope . But , as if she divined by instinct what there was to fear , the little girl stoutly refused to leave her mother that night and seek rest . After prevailing upon the neighbor woman to lie down on the lounge close by , she sat on the carpet beside the bed , weary but unswerving , and reached up every little while to touch a hand , or rose to listen to the spasmodic beating of the tortured heart . At midnight her mother awoke and asked for nourishment . Having eaten and drunk , she motioned the little girl to a seat on the edge of the bed and began to talk , slowly at the beginning but more hurriedly toward the last , as if she were freeing herself of something long ago thought out and long delayed in the saying . `` I 've been thinking of the fields and hedges of dear old England , '' she whispered . `` I can see them so plainly to-night .