midnight
The moon drifted lower and lower until it sank into oblivion . The stars began to fade away The little ones went out , and the big ones grew sleepy and dull . A great snow-ghostly gloom settled over the forest world . In the six hours between midnight and dawn he covered thirty-five miles . And then he stopped . Dropping on his belly beside a rock at the crest of a ridge he watched the birth of day . With drooling jaws and panting breath he rested , until at last the dull gold of the winter sun began to paint the eastern sky .