midnight
Nothing whatever could be seen ; the pale dim dawn was veiled by mist and snow , and each time the icy particles were driven against the window , they left behind them a thicker curtain of frost . Mrs. Costello went shivering back to bed , but she did not sleep again . She began to consider anxiously how far the boat that was carrying her dead could have come before the storm commenced . At midnight it had been quite calm , probably indeed till four or five o'clock ; and if the sailors had foreseen the change , they would most likely have made all possible speed . If they did so , the wind and current both being in their favour , they ought to be here now ; but if , as was quite equally likely , they had stopped last night at some port , would they venture out in this storm ? She began to regret that she had not caused the body to be sent by land , so as to have only to cross the narrow current which divided the island from the Canadian shore . She had decided against this plan on account of the greater distance and the difficulty of transport , but now these seemed less formidable than the uncertainty and possible danger of the route she had chosen .