midnight
Down nearly a hundred feet below the smith had lain until the turn of the tide . The man 's eyes , becoming accustomed to the gloom , could distinguish the points of the great boulders springing boldly from out the sand . The surf as it broke all round and over them was tipped with a phosphorescent light . The gale , in sheer wantonness , caught the midnight prowler 's hat and with a wild sound as of the detonation of a hundred guns , tossed it to the waves below . The snow in a few moments had thrown a white pall over the watcher 's head . He could see quite clearly the tall boulder untouched by the tide , on which he had placed the black silk shade that night , also the broad-brimmed hat , so that these things should be found high and dry and be easily recognizable . Some twenty feet further on was the smooth stretch of sand where had lain the smith , after he had been dressed up in the fantastic clothes of the mysterious French prince .