midnight
The cards are tossed aside , the play abandoned ; instead , coarse stories are told , and songs sung , fit only for the ears of such a God-forsaken crew . The saturnalia is brought to a close , when all become so intoxicated they can neither tell story nor sing song . Then some stagger to their tents , others dropping over where they sit , and falling fast asleep . By midnight there is not a man of them awake , and the camp is silent , save here and there a drunken snore disturbing its stillness . The great central fire , around which some remain lying astretch , burns on , but no longer blazes . There is no one to tend it with the pitchy pine-knots . Inside the tents also , the lights are extinguished -- all except one .