midnight
-LSB- Illustration -RSB- `` I must say that you seem to be enjoying it , '' Alec commented . `` Primitive or not , I still like this better than those rat warrens they call cities today . '' * * * * * Nearly two miles above them , the replacement snow gauge , C11902-87 , already buried in a half-foot of new snow , sent out a strong and steady signal . At midnight , when both snow hydrologists were sleeping soundly in their bags , hundreds of miles away in regional survey headquarters at Spokane , the huge electronic sequencer began its rapid signal check of each of the thousands of snow gauges in the five-state area of Region Six . A dozen red lights flicked on among the thousands of green pinpoints of illumination on the huge mural map of the area indicating gauges not reporting due to malfunctions . The technician on duty compared the red lights with the trouble sheet in his hand . He noted two new numbers on the list .