midnight
I was aware that Murray intended coming into the town , and at last I reeled into a shaded spot near the road , and waited for him . Oh ! the mocking glory of that cloudless night ! To this day I hate the cold glitter of stars , and the golden sheen of midnight moons ! For the first time in my life , I cursed the world and all it held ; cursed the contented cricket singing in the grass at my feet ; cursed the blood in my arteries , that beat so thick and fast I could not listen for the footsteps I was waiting for . At last I heard him whistling a favorite tune , which all our lives we had whistled together , as we hunted through the woods around Le Bocage ; and , as the familiar sound of ` The Braes of Balquither ' drew nearer and nearer , I sprang up with a cry that must have rung on the night air like the yell of some beast of prey . Of all that passed I only know that I cursed and insulted and maddened him till he accepted the pistol , which I thrust into his hand .