midnight
She arose accordingly , and groped her way in the direction in which she had seen the light and heard the voices . And soon another and very different light gladdened her eyes -- a faint glow , far off , as of a fire kindled among the forest trees . It was the camp of the patriots , she thought . She came to the brook , which , invisible , mysterious , murmuring , rolled along in the midnight blackness , and seemed too formidable for her to ford . She felt the cold rush of the hurrying water , the slippery slime of the mossy and treacherous stones , and withdrew her appalled hands . To find a shallow place to cross , she followed up the bank ; and as the light was still before her , higher on the mountain , she kept on , groping among trees , climbing over logs and rocks , falling often , but always resolutely rising again , until , to her dismay , the glow began to disappear . She had , without knowing it , followed the stream up into the deep gorge through which it poured ; and now the precipitous wood-crowned wall , rising beside her , overhanging her , shut out the last glimpse of the fire .