midnight
The little linguister , for her part , had no doubts . She was well aware indeed of the cause of the summons , and so dismayed by the prospect was even her doughty heart that the swift ride through the black forest was less terrible to her than the thought of the ordeal of the arrival . But the march was not without its peculiar trials . She shrank in instinctive affright from the unaccustomed escort of a dragoon on either side of her , looming up in the darkness like some phantom of the midnight . Even her volition seemed wrested from her by reason of the military training of the troop-horse which she rode ; -- he whirled about at the command `` right-wheel ! '' ringing out in the darkness in the crisp peremptory tones of the non-commissioned officer , and plunged forward at the words `` trot , march ! '' and adjusted his muscles instantaneously to the acceleration implied in `` gallop ! ''