midnight
Laughter and farewells floated up to him . In a few minutes all was silence save for the footfalls of the sentries on their posts . Somewhere in its boat of song , the nightingale was floating on the sea of darkness . Drawn aimlessly by the pathos of the songster 's lay , Carter wandered to the window to gaze out into the moonless midnight . Racking his quivering heart , his imagination dwelt on a pictured life with Trusia , emphasizing the sweet moments of her complete surrender . Time lost all measure in his rhapsody . He might have stood leaning over the sill a day or a second , when a sound , persistent and murmuring , haled him back to mundane things .