midnight
The Woodrow farm-house was on a ridge beyond the wood , and no other dwelling was in sight . The mysterious manner of life of this woman had no doubt given rise to the bad name which she bore in the neighborhood . She would often disappear for a week or two at a time , and her return seemed to take place invariably in the night . Sometimes a belated farmer would see the single front window of her cabin lighted at midnight , and hear the dulled sound of voices in the stillness . But no one cared to play the spy upon her movements very closely ; her great strength and fierce , reckless temper made her dangerous , and her hostility would have been worse than the itching of ungratified curiosity . So they let her alone , taking their revenge in the character they ascribed to her , and the epithets they attached to her name . When Gilbert , after hitching his horse in a corner of the zigzag picket-fence , climbed over and approached the cabin , Deb .