midnight
He knew they would have bloodhounds on his trail as soon as possible ; that every railway-station agent would have a description of him and be on the lookout for him within a few hours ; and that his mother 's house would be closely watched that night : so , gathering his breath , he started in the long , steady stride of his foot-ball training across the fields and , a fugitive from justice , fled for the hills . The night was crisp , the moon was not risen , and the frozen earth was slippery , but he did not dare to take to the turnpike until he saw the lights of farm-houses begin to disappear , and then he climbed the fence into the road and sped swiftly on . Now and then he would have to leap out of the road again and crouch close behind the fence when he heard the rattle of some coming vehicle , but nothing overtook him , and when at last he had the dark silent fields and the white line of the turnpike all to himself he slowed into a swift walk . Before midnight he saw the lights of his college town ahead of him and again he took to the fields to circle about it and strike the road again on the other side where it led on toward the mountains . But always his eyes were turned leftward toward those town lights that he was leaving perhaps forever and on beyond them to his mother 's home . He could see her still seated before the fire and staring into it , newly worn and aged , and tearless ; and he knew Mavis lay sleepless and racked with fear in her little room . By this time they all must have heard , and he wondered what John Burnham was thinking , and Gray , and then with a stab at his heart he thought of Marjorie .