eleven o'clock
The elder shepherd then lay down inside the hut , and the boy went down the hill to the hamlet where he dwelt . When the next night drew on the actions of the boy were almost enough to show that he was thinking of the meeting he had witnessed , and of the promise wrung from the lady that she would come there again . As far as the sheep-tending arrangements were concerned , to-night was but a repetition of the foregoing one . Between ten and eleven o'clock the old shepherd withdrew as usual for what sleep at home he might chance to get without interruption , making up the other necessary hours of rest at some time during the day ; the boy was left alone . The frost was the same as on the night before , except perhaps that it was a little more severe . The moon shone as usual , except that it was three - quarters of an hour later in its course ; and the boy 's condition was much the same , except that he felt no sleepiness whatever . He felt , too , rather afraid ; but upon the whole he preferred witnessing an assignation of strangers to running the risk of being discovered absent by the old shepherd .