midnight
Down in the trench the fire grew to a rich and splendid glow , and one or two of the favoured of fortune , who owned pipes and tobacco , plucked bright embers from it , and , nestling under the shelter of the wall , sucked away at their comfort with simple animal noises of satisfaction . ` I say , Bill , ' says one , ` was you ever Hingry before you seen this Gawd-forsaken Crimea ? ' ` Lor ' love yer , ' says the man questioned , ` I was born hungry , and I 've been hungry ever since . But if the Honourable Paddy finds that ` og , and I get hold of a hind leg of him , I wo n't complain before to-morrow midnight . ' The fire glowed with a richer and a richer light , and men of hospitable minds wiped their half-smoked clays on the inside crook of a coated elbow and passed on luxury and refreshment to less-favoured neighbours . It was a time for comradeship , if only for the fact that it was Christmas Eve , and coming fast towards Christmas morning . But the thought of the slain porker was in all men 's minds , and made them expansive and generous and reserved by turns .