midnight
The stars were dying out one by one , and in the eastern horizon glimmered the first beams of day . The waves , lightly stirred by the rising breeze , murmured softly as in a dream . A ship sped on through the ever-brightening morning twilight . It had left the harbor of S -- at midnight , and having passed the broad river 's mouth , was about to enter the open sea . Count Morynski , with his daughter and Waldemar , stood on the deck . Wanda had insisted upon accompanying her father to S -- , and remaining until the last possible moment at his side . The ship would pass Altenhof in its course , and here the final parting would take place .