midnight
That , and the ashes of their last night 's fire ! He stood a long while staring fixedly at these memorials . More from subconscious attraction than from impulse Iskender trudged for hours across the wide coast plain till he reached the sandhills and beheld the house of the missionaries . It was then towards midnight , and the moon was rising . He sat and watched that house , with scarcely a movement , till the dawn came up , and the moon became a symbol in the lighted sky . With the cries of waking birds , with the return of colour , his blood flowed warm again . He arose , and turned towards his mother 's house .