midnight
For it seemed to me that they must have died at last by starvation , and if not by that , then by the act of some one of the devil-creatures which inhabited that lonely weed-world . And then , even as I fell upon this thought , the bo ` sun clapped me upon the shoulder , and told me in a very hearty way to come to the light of the fire , and banish all melancholy thoughts ; for he had a very penetrating discernment , and had followed me quietly from the camping place , having had reason once or twice before to chide me for gloomy meditations . And for this , and many other matters , I had grown to like the man , the which I could almost believe at times , was his regarding of me ; but his words were too few for me to gather his feelings ; though I had hope that they were as I surmised . And so I came back to the fire , and presently , it not being my time to watch until after midnight , I turned into the tent for a spell of sleep , having first arranged a comfortable spread of some of the softer portions of the dry weed to make me a bed . Now I was very full of sleep , so that I slept heavily , and in this wise heard not the man on watch call the bo ` sun ; yet the rousing of the others waked me , and so I came to myself and found the tent empty , at which I ran very hurriedly to the doorway , and so discovered that there was a clear moon in the sky , the which , by reason of the cloudiness that had prevailed , we had been without for the past two nights . Moreover , the sultriness had gone , the wind having blown it away with the clouds ; yet though , maybe , I appreciated this , it was but in a half-conscious manner ; for I was put about to discover the whereabouts of the men , and the reason of their leaving the tent . With this purpose , I stepped out from the entrance , and the following instant discovered them all in a clump beside the leeward edge of the hilltop .