the winter
midnight
A stranger stood warming his hands at a newly-made fire , and little Myles , as he peeped from out the warm sheepskin , saw that he was in riding-boots and was covered with mud . He did not know till long years afterwards that the stranger was a messenger sent by a friend at the King 's court , bidding his father fly for safety . They who stood there by the red blaze of the fire were all very still , talking in whispers and walking on tiptoes , and Myles 's mother hugged him in her arms , sheepskin and all , kissing him , with the tears streaming down her cheeks , and whispering to him , as though he could understand their trouble , that they were about to leave their home forever . Then Diccon Bowman carried him out into the strangeness of the winter midnight . Outside , beyond the frozen moat , where the osiers , stood stark and stiff in their winter nakedness , was a group of dark figures waiting for them with horses . In the pallid moonlight Myles recognized the well-known face of Father Edward , the Prior of St. Mary 's . After that came a long ride through that silent night upon the saddle-bow in front of Diccon Bowman ; then a deep , heavy sleep , that fell upon him in spite of the galloping of the horses .