midnight
They were as men who had seen the invisible ; it was as though heaven had descended upon them and the glory of the new-born King had gleamed in their eyes , and they were filled with a holy awe . Next morning the mist had cleared , and the miracle was explained . The spot which they had chosen for their resting-place was at the foot of the great scarp of limestone upon which stands the city of Bethlehem , two thousand five hundred feet above the sea . The city had passed , without the shedding of a drop of blood , into the hands of General Allenby , and the soldiers stationed there , inspired by the associations of the place and the Christmas season , had left their barracks shortly before midnight , and , proceeding to the officers ' quarters , had greeted them with a hymn . And the Christmas moon , rising high above the mountains of Gilead and Moab , had found for a short space of time an opening in the curtain of mist and had poured down its light upon the hills of Judea , making the city of Bethlehem seem to the rapt minds of the two Yorkshire dalesmen as though it had been the city of the living God let down from heaven . Tales of a grandmother I . The Tree of Knowledge I spent a certain portion of every year in a village of Upper Wharfedale , where I made many friends among the farm folk .