midnight
Occasionally she leaned towards him , and he stooped to catch her whispered words . At such times her breath beat warm against his cheek , and he closed his teeth stubbornly . Out in the night a wolfdog saddened the air , then came the sound of others wrangling and snarling in a near-by corral . This is a chickless land and no cock-crow breaks the midnight peace . The suspense enhanced the Judge 's perturbation till his chattering teeth sounded like castanets . Now and then he groaned . The watchers had lost track of time when their strained eyes detected dark blots materializing out of the shadows .