midnight
If you promise me , I know that he will return to me safely . '' I set out on my long night-walk , stumbling over rocks and boulders in the darkness . It was a beautiful night , the crisp atmosphere was laden with the fragrant exhalation of the nut pines and junipers and there was not a breath of air stirring . I got down to water at midnight , the time of moonrise , filled my canteen and started on the return trip . Slowly I reascended the steep mesa , and when I reached the summit I sat down on a rock in a thicket of junipers . The moon had now risen above the trees and cast its dim light over an enchanting scene . The sense of utter loneliness , a homesickness , a feeling of premonition , stole over me , and weirdly I sensed the presence of I knew not what .