midnight
Up I rushed . And at first I had not the faintest conception what this headlong rush upward could mean . Every moment the circle of scenery beneath me grew wider and wider , and the details of town and field , of hill and valley , got more and more hazy and pale and indistinct , a luminous grey was mingled more and more with the blue of the hills and the green of the open meadows ; and a little patch of cloud , low and far to the west , shone ever more dazzlingly white . Above , as the veil of atmosphere between myself and outer space grew thinner , the sky , which had been a fair springtime blue at first , grew deeper and richer in colour , passing steadily through the intervening shades , until presently it was as dark as the blue sky of midnight , and presently as black as the blackness of a frosty starlight , and at last as black as no blackness I had ever beheld . And first one star , and then many , and at last an innumerable host broke out upon the sky : more stars than anyone has ever seen from the face of the earth . For the blueness of the sky in the light of the sun and stars sifted and spread abroad blindingly : there is diffused light even in the darkest skies of winter , and we do not see the stars by day only because of the dazzling irradiation of the sun . But now I saw things -- I know not how ; assuredly with no mortal eyes -- and that defect of bedazzlement blinded me no longer .