midnight
That 's why the bison used to go down there . '' Suddenly we heard a scream above our fire , and jumped up to see a dark , slim bird floating southward far above us -- a whooping-crane , we knew by her cry and her long neck . We ran to the edge of the island , hoping we might see her alight , but she wavered southward along the rivercourse until we lost her . The Hassler boys declared that by the look of the heavens it must be after midnight , so we threw more wood on our fire , put on our jackets , and curled down in the warm sand . Several of us pretended to doze , but I fancy we were really thinking about Tip 's Bluff and the extinct people . Over in the wood the ring-doves were calling mournfully to one another , and once we heard a dog bark , far away . `` Somebody getting into old Tommy 's melon patch , '' Fritz murmured , sleepily , but nobody answered him .