midnight
Under this fleecy mantle , shimmering with myriad gems , lay Winnipeg asleep . Up from five thousand chimneys rose straight into the still frosty air five thousand columns of smoke , in token that , though frost was king outside , the good folk of Winnipeg lay snug and warm in their virtuous beds . Everywhere the white streets lay in silence except for the passing of a belated cab with creaking runners and jingling bells , and of a sleighing party returning from Silver Heights , their four-horse team smoking , their sleigh bells ringing out , carrying with them hoarse laughter and hoarser songs , for the frosty air works mischief with the vocal chords , and leaving behind them silence again . All through Fort Rouge , lying among its snow-laden trees , across the frost-bound Assiniboine , all through the Hudson 's Bay Reserve , there was no sign of life , for it was long past midnight . Even Main Street , that most splendid of all Canadian thoroughfares , lay white and spotless and , for the most part , in silence . Here and there men in furs or in frieze coats with collars turned up high , their eyes peering through frost-rimmed eyelashes and over frost-rimmed coat collars , paced comfortably along if in furs , or walked hurriedly if only in frieze , whither their business or their pleasure led . Near the northern limits of the city the signs of life were more in evidence .