midnight
Here `` hath mailed Mars sat on his altar up to his ears in blood , '' smiling grimly at the music of echoing cannons , the shrill trump , and all the rude din of arms , until , like the waters of Egypt , the lake became red as the crimson flowers that blossom upon its margin . -LSB- 1 -RSB- And if at `` the witching hour of night , '' the unquiet ghosts of murdered sinners _ do _ stalk forth to re-visit earth by the pale glimpses of the moon , the slaughter of Fort William Henry might have furnished a goodly number of shadowy companions for the hero of a tale which is no fiction . But I am not aware that any of them came forth to add to the troubles of that memorable night , or divert his mind from what must then have been the absorbing subject of his contemplations . Still , if they had had any desire of mustering for a midnight review , or for a goblin-dance , they lost the best opportunity , probably , that will again occur for ages ; -- since another such illumination of the beautiful esplanade in front of the old fortress where the massacre took place , and where the skeleton platoons would of course have mustered , will never again be presented -- at least not until another Doctor Wheelwright shall build and watch over the fortunes of another Lady-of-the-Lake . In the course of an hour , the beautiful vessel was burned to the water 's edge ; when the weight of the massive iron machinery , rendered white and malleable by the intenseness of the heat , carried down the hull to the bottom , and the waters closed over it , sissing and boiling for a moment , as when a stream of lava runs burning into the embrace of the ocean . The illumination being thus extinguished , darkness once more brooded over the mountains , the face of the deep , and the fortunes of Mr. Daniel Wheelwright -- of whom , for the present , we must take leave , even while thus he stands , as Sir John Moore lies under the walls of Corunna -- `` alone in his glory '' -- surveying '' -- The circling canopy Of night 's extended shade . '' -LSB- 1 -RSB- The _ Lobelia Cardinalis _ , commonly called the _ Indian Eye-Bright _ .