midnight
Presently he hid behind a wide-spreading tree , and waited for Saronia . Several forms like men or women or demons passed by towards the Temple ; he heard their mutterings , but saw not their faces . The time hung heavily on his hands . 'T was still half an hour to midnight , and the waning moon was hid -- not a star shone forth to comfort him . The wild beasts of the grove howled from their distant lair . Then came a convulsion in the heavens -- the gathering storm-clouds spoke to each other and exchanged lightning glances until the sky was a sea of fire . Great clouds whirled up from the west , and others bore down from the east , and they mingled around the moon in one great aerial war until the heavens were rent asunder , and the east wind gained the mastery , sweeping the surging war-clouds away to the western sky in the dark-blue depths .