midnight
`` 'T was just something to say -- that 's all ! But we must make private inquiries . '' Having sufficiently rested they proceeded on their way at evenfall . The dense trees of the avenue rendered the road dark as a tunnel , though the open land on each side was still under a faint daylight , in other words , they passed down a midnight between two gloamings . The features of the town had a keen interest for Elizabeth 's mother , now that the human side came to the fore . As soon as they had wandered about they could see that the stockade of gnarled trees which framed in Casterbridge was itself an avenue , standing on a low green bank or escarpment , with a ditch yet visible without . Within the avenue and bank was a wall more or less discontinuous , and within the wall were packed the abodes of the burghers .