midnight
And , mother dear , here are our Argonauts returned ; and -- and now I think I will go . '' With a quick kiss on her father 's cheek -- not so quick but he caught the tear that ran through her happy smile -- she vanished into the house . That night there was gladness in this home . Mirth sprang to the lips of the men like foam on a beaker of wine , so that the evening ran towards midnight swiftly . All the tale of the hunt was given by Malbrouck to joyful ears ; for the mother lived again her youth in the sunrise of this romance which was being sped before her eyes ; and the father , knowing that in this world there is nothing so good as courage , nothing so base as the shifting eye , looked on the young man , and was satisfied , and told his story well ; -- told it as a brave man would tell it , bluntly as to deeds done , warmly as to the pleasures of good sport , directly as to all . In the eye of the young man there had come the glance of larger life , of a new-developed manhood . When he felt that dun body crashing on him , and his life closing with its strength , and ran the good knife home , there flashed through his mind how much life meant to the dying , how much it ought to mean to the living ; and then this girl , this Margaret , swam before his eyes -- and he had been graver since .