midnight
We can go . '' In fact , they proceeded quietly . The distance between Ciechanow and Przasnysz is not great , and during the summer a cavalier riding a good horse can travel from one city to the other in two hours ; but they were riding very slowly on account of the darkness and the drifts of snow . They started after midnight and did not arrive at the prince 's hunting house , situated near the woods , beyond Przasnysz , until daybreak . The wooden mansion was large and the panes of the windows were made of glass balls . In front of the house were the well-sweeps and two barns for horses , and round the mansion were many tents made of skins and booths hastily built of the branches of pine trees . The fires shone brightly in front of the tents , and round them were standing the huntsmen who were dressed in coats made of sheepskins , foxskins , wolfskins and bearskins , and having the hair turned outside .