About midnight
Sleep was out of the question , for they would have frozen to death at six feet away from the fire . They sat with their arms round each other , as close to the blaze as possible , and turned now their faces and now their backs to the warmth . Fortunately , there was no wind . About midnight a pallid moon came up behind light clouds . Far in the woods they heard strange , lugubrious noises , moans , hootings , and once a shrill , savage scream . Now and then they talked , but they were too miserable from the cold to say much . In spite of the cold , they grew drowsy .