two o'clock in the morning
On , on went the Wehr-Wolf ; but now his course began to deviate from the right line which he had hitherto pursued , and to assume a curved direction . From a field a poor man was turning an ox into the main road , that he might drive the animal to his master 's residence by daylight ; the wolf swept by , and snapped furiously at the ox as he passed : and the beast , affrighted by the sudden appearance , gushing sound , and abrupt though evanescent attack of the infuriate monster , turned on the herdsman and gored him to death . On went the terrific wolf , with wilder and more frequent howlings , which were answered in a thousand tones from the rocks and caverns overlooking the valley through whose bosom he was now careering with whirlwind speed along . It was now two o'clock in the morning , and he had already described an immense circuit from the point where he had begun to deviate from a direct course . At a turning of the road , as he emerged from the valley , the monster encountered a party of village girls repairing with the produce of their dairies , and of their poultry-yards , to some still far distant town , which they had hoped to reach shortly after daybreak . Fair , gay , and smiling was the foremost maiden , as the bright moon and the silver starlight shone upon her countenance ; but that sweet face , clad in the richest hues of health , was suddenly convulsed with horror , as the terrible Wehr-Wolf thundered by with appalling howls . For a few moments the foremost village maiden stood rooted to the spot in speechless horror : then , uttering a wild cry , she fell backward , rolled down a steep bank , and was ingulfed in the rapid stream that chafed and fretted along the side of the path .