Twelve o'clock
To sing through noises and aches and tired feet and stunned , blocky heads . To sing with no hope before her and the theft of her very childhood -- ay , her life -- going on by the Beast Thing and his men . God intended us to be happy , else He had never put so strong an instinct there . Twelve o'clock . The Steam Beast gave a triumphant scream heard above the roar of shuttle and steel . It was a loud , defiant , victorious roar which drowned all others . Then it purred and paused for breath -- purred softer and softer and -- slept at last .