Midnight
It was as if the angels of the sky were noiselessly casting their fleecy veils of light over and into the awful depths below , and driving away the crouching monster of blackness that was thus roused from his slumber and forced to flee . Grand as was the scene , it was soothing in its effect upon the awed lad , who , leaning against the rock behind him , the stock of his rifle resting at his feet , surveyed it all with feelings that drew him nearer to heaven , and gave him a more vivid knowledge of the greatness and majesty of the Author of all that he saw and felt . Standing thus , with his emotions stirred to their profoundest depths , Jack Dudley took no note of the passage of time . Midnight came and passed , and still he held his post , wondering , admiring and worshipping , as must puny man when brought face to face with such exhibitions of Omnipotence . It was an unromantic ending to this experience that , forgetful of the consequences of what he did , he finally became sensible of the irksomeness of his standing position , and sat down , with his back to the rock , that he might enjoy it all without fatigue of body . Need it be said what followed ? He had not been seated ten minutes when his senses left him and he became as unconscious as Fred Greenwood , asleep in the cavern , on the other side of the smouldering fire .