midnight
He was beginning to deceive her as he had never deceived her mother . Even Jessie knew more of this last enterprise than she did herself . All that did not tend to decrease her utter restlessness . It was already past midnight when she noticed that the wind had again abated . The mountain breeze had by this time possessed the stifling valleys and heated bars of the river in its strong , cold embraces ; the equilibrium of Nature was restored , and a shadowy mist rose from the hollow . A stillness , more oppressive and intolerable than the previous commotion , began to pervade the house and the surrounding woods . She could hear the regular breathing of the sleepers ; she even fancied she could detect the faint impulses of the more distant life in the settlement .