About midnight
Presently he went away , lurching in the darkness like a drunken man -- on , on , deep into the forest , where nothing of light or sound penetrated . And when he could no longer stand he sat down , his young head in his hands , and waited . His body had been shot through and through . About midnight he died . When Jack came to his senses the gray mystery of dawn was passing through the silent forest aisles ; the beeches , pallid , stark , loomed motionless on every side ; the pale veil of sky-fog hung festooned from tree to tree . There was a sense of breathless waiting in the shadowy woods -- no sound , no stir , nothing of life or palpitation -- nothing but foreboding . Jack crawled to his knees ; his chest ached , his mouth cracked with a terrible throbbing thirst .