midnight
In a little while , the child in the cottage in the valley nestled close to its mother , scared at the flying tramp ; while the trembling mother herself prayed for the shield of the Virgin 's grace against the night-fiends that were abroad . Here , there was a solitary light in the plain ; there , beside the river ; and yonder , behind the village ; and at each of these stations were fresh horses , the best in the region , and smiling faces to tender their use . The panting animals that were left behind were caressed for the sake of the burden they had carried , and of the few kind words dropped by their rider during his momentary pause . Thus was the plain beyond Mirbalais passed soon after midnight . In the dark the horsemen swam the Artibonite , and leaped the sources of the Petite Riviere . The eastern sky was beginning to brighten as they mounted the highest steeps above Atalaye ; and from the loftiest point , the features of the wide landscape became distinct in the cool grey dawn . Toussaint looked no longer at the fading stars .