About nine o’clock
To have been routed by a woman was a terrible humiliation to the valiant Sons of the Vikings . They were silent and moody during the evening , and sat staring into the big bonfire on the saeter green with stern and melancholy features . They had suffered defeat in battle , and it behooved them to avenge it . About nine o'clock they retired into their bunks in the log cabin , but no sooner was Brumle-Knute 's rhythmic snoring perceived than Wolf-in-the-Temple put his head out and called to his comrades to meet him in front of the house for a council of war . Instantly they scrambled out of their alcoves , pulled on their coats and trousers ; and noiselessly stole out into the night . The sun was yet visible , but a red veil of fiery mist was drawn across his face ; and a magic air of fairy-tales and strange unreality was diffused over mountains , plains and lakes . The river wound like a huge , blood-red serpent through the mountain pastures , and the snow-hooded peaks blazed with fiery splendor .