midnight
They were lifting him on the stretcher , and the pain caused by the movement made him faint . It was a slow journey down the slippery mountain path . The men who carried him had to pick their steps carefully . At the inn the little cuckoo came out of the clock in the hall and called eleven , half past , and midnight , before the even tramp , tramp of approaching feet made the Little Colonel run to the door for the last time . `` They 're comin ' , mothah , '' she whispered , with a frightened face , and then ran back to hide her eyes while the men passed up the steps with their unconscious burden . She thought the Major was dead , he lay so white and still . But he had only fainted again on the way , and soon revived enough to answer the doctor 's questions , and send word to the Little Colonel that she and Hero had saved his life .