About midnight
The girl , too , laughed , but quietly . She was just a little touched , though only this winter she had left Bismarck because the place would have no more of her . In the face of Billy 's approval , the patriarch fell silent . About midnight the four inmates of the frontier hotel were awakened by a tremendous racket outside . The stranger arose , fully clothed , from his bunk , and peered through the narrow open window . A dozen horses were standing grouped in charge of a single mounted man , indistinguishable in the dark . Out of the open door a broad band of light streamed from the saloon , whence came the noise of voices and of boots tramping about .