midnight
The little boys ' lives shall come afore my life -- harm shall come to me afore it touches them ; and ef religion can do anything for them , why , they shall hear of it and choose for themselves . There , I have promised . '' MRS. Granger lingered all through that night , but she scarcely said anything more , and in the cold dawn of the morning her spirit passed very quietly away . The two little boys opened the room door noisily at midnight , but they too were impressed , as Bet had been , by the unusual order and appearance of comfort of the room . Perhaps they were also startled by the girl 's still figure crouching by the bedside , and by the look on their mother 's face as she lay with her eyes closed , breathing hard and fast . They ceased to talk noisily , and crept over to a straw mattress on the floor which they shared together . When they next opened their eyes they were motherless .