midnight
Down the side of the hill and over the valley lay the forests . And through the starlight he strode back to them once more , back to their cloisters and their heritage , the heritage of the hunted and the outcast . All through the starlit hours of that night John Keith trudged steadily into the Northwest . For a long time his direction took him through slashings , second-growth timber , and cleared lands ; he followed rough roads and worn trails and passed cabins that were dark and without life in the silence of midnight . Twice a dog caught the stranger scent in the air and howled ; once he heard a man 's voice , far away , raised in a shout . Then the trails grew rougher . He came to a deep wide swamp .