nine o’clock in
the evening
They now called at Ralph 's lodgings , whence he presently emerged in a similar Esquimau costume , wearing a wolf-skin coat which left nothing visible except the tip of his nose and the steam of his breath . Then they started off merrily with jingling bells , and waved a farewell toward many a window , wherein were friends and acquaintances . They felt in so jolly a mood , that they could not help shouting their joy in the face of all the world , and crowing over all poor wretches who were left to spend the holidays in the city . Solheim was about twenty miles from the city , and it was nine o'clock in the evening when the boys arrived there . The moon was shining brightly , and the Milky Way , with its myriad stars , looked like a luminous mist across the vault of the sky . The aurora borealis swept down from the north with white and pink radiations which flushed the dark blue sky for an instant , and vanished . The earth was white , as far as the eye could reach -- splendidly , dazzlingly white .