four o'clock
I could n't sleep nights if I thought the coyotes could get in . '' Bert 's imagination seized upon that lonely cabin and the figure lying cold as iron upon the bed . It appealed to him more than to Anson . By four o'clock it was dark , and the lamp was lighted when Bert came in , bringing an immense load of hay-twists . The ferocious wind , as if exulting in its undisputed sway over the plain , raved in ceaseless fury around the cabin , and lashed the roof with a thousand stinging streams of snow . The tiny shanty did not rock ; it shuddered as if with fright . The drifts rose higher on the windows , and here and there through some unseen crevice the snow , fine as bolted flour , found its way like oil , seeming to penetrate the solid boards ; and to the stove-pipe the storm still laid hoarse lip , piping incessantly , now dolorously , now savagely , now high , now low .