midnight
`` The first thing to do , '' interpolated Steele , `` is to root him out of Meadow Creek Valley . I 've never known the snow to hang so late to the side of Crosby . '' That very night it ceased to `` hang . '' At midnight every one in the shack was awakened . There was a cracking of trees , a long steady rush , and then a mighty and prolonged roar as the snow , under the influence of a swift warm wind , swept down the side of old Crosby , and took the thousand-feet plunge into the ravine at the foot of the falls . The roar echoed against the sides of Dundee and Spar and Sniffle , starting other though lesser slides until the cañon was filled with the confusion of sound . The following morning , Steele , after investigation , found the trail around the shoulder of Crosby swept clean , and at once proposed that they follow it to Meadow Creek .