midnight
It was some time before he was able to be out again , but no hour spent with Janet was lost . That winter the old people were greatly tried with rheumatism ; for not only were the frosts severe , but there was much rain between . Their children did all in their power to minister to their wants , and Gibbie was nurse as well as shepherd . He who when a child had sought his place in the live universe by attending on drunk people and helping them home through the midnight streets , might have felt himself promoted considerably in having the necessities of such as Robert and Janet to minister to , but he never thought of that . It made him a little mournful sometimes to think that he could not read to them . Janet , however , was generally able to read aloud . Robert , being also asthmatic , suffered more than she , and was at times a little impatient .