midnight
`` He is moving back toward the pines . He has changed his mind , or has gone for his band . You may stop now . '' Mrs. Woods watched by the split shutter until past midnight . Then she laid down on the bed , and Gretchen watched , and one listened while the other slept , by turns , during the night . But no footstep was heard . The midsummer sun blazed over the pines in the early morning ; birds sang gayly in the dewy air , and Gretchen prepared the morning meal as usual , then made her way to the log school-house .