midnight
In spite of the fact that he had had almost no sleep the preceding night , he was more than usually wakeful . He was filled with a curious feeling that events were impending . Yet the hours passed , the moon flooded the valley again , the horses grazed without alarm , and nothing happened . He had planned not to awaken old Donald at midnight , but MacDonald roused himself , and came to take his place a little before twelve . From that hour until four Aldous slept like the dead . He was tremendously refreshed when he arose , to find that the candle was alight in Joanne 's tepee , and that MacDonald had built a fire . He waited for Joanne , and went with her to the tiny creek near the camp , where both bathed their faces in the snow-cold water from the mountain tops .