midnight
`` Do you know where that lake is situated ? My captors have always refused to inform me . If you do , I will go with you cheerfully , and walk once more upon its lovely shores . Twelve long years , in the dreams of midnight , I have wandered on its shores , and its coves and bays have appeared to me with the white swan with snowy sail and air of pride floating upon its mirror waves ; but there is a bitter mingled with the sweet ; in those dreams I see my mother pale in death , slain by my captor 's hands , and oh , my father , who was absent from his home , where is he ? When rosy morn blushed on the concave of the skies I always found myself within the wigwam 's prison-walls . '' Esock Mayall told her frankly that he neither knew the name or locality of the lake she described , but added , `` If you would consent to be my wife and go with me to my forest home , I will endeavor to learn from your captors the name and locality , and take you back to the home of your childhood , once more to ramble on the beautiful shores where you had roamed in childhood 's sunny days . '' The maiden then replied that she would consult with her father and answer his request to-morrow .