midnight
The children had long fallen asleep with rapturous fatigue , when Marie stood up and made her people follow her in a prayer . The waxlights were then put out , screens divided the camp , and quiet followed . Of all nights in Le Rossignol 's life this one seemed least likely to be chosen as her occasion for a flight . The walls were strictly guarded , and at midnight the moon spread its ghostly day over all visible earth . Besides , if the fortress was to be surrendered , there was immediate prospect of a voyage for all the household . The dwarf 's world was near the ground , to which the thinking of the tall men and women around her scarcely stooped . But she seized on and weighed and tried their thoughts , arriving at shrewd issues .