midnight
The little bleat sounded above him , very feeble and faint . Findelkind set his lantern down , braced himself up by drawing tighter his old leathern girdle , set his sheepskin cap firm on his forehead , and went toward the sound as far as he could judge that it might be . He was out of the woods now ; there were only a few straggling pines rooted here and there in a mass of loose-lying rock and slate ; so much he could tell by the light of the lantern , and the lambs by the bleating , seemed still above him . It does not , perhaps , seem very hard labour to hunt about by a dusky light upon a desolate mountainside ; but when the snow is falling fast , -- when the light is only a small circle , wavering , yellowish on the white , -- when around is a wilderness of loose stones and yawning clefts , -- when the air is ice and the hour is past midnight , -- the task is not a light one for a man ; and Findelkind was a child , like that Findelkind that was in heaven . Long , very long was his search ; he grew hot and forgot all fear except a spasm of terror lest his light should burn low and die out . The bleating had quite ceased now , and there was not even a sigh to guide him ; but he knew that near him the lambs must be , and he did not waver or despair . He did not pray ; praying in the morning had been no use ; but he trusted in God , and he laboured hard , toiling to and fro , seeking in every nook and behind each stone , and straining every muscle and nerve , till the sweat rolled in a briny dew off his forehead , and his curls dripped with wet .