midnight
A solitary walk in a solitary place , with the great world sleeping about you , and the great skies throbbing above you , and the long unrest of the panting summer night , fading into the cool of dews , and pure gray dawns , has in it something of what Mr. Robertson calls `` God 's silence . '' Once , on one of these lonely rambles , Keturah found away in the fields , under the shadow of an old stone-wall , a baby 's grave . It had no headstone to tell its story , and the weeds and brambles of many years had overgrown it . Keturah is not of a romantic disposition , especially on her midnight tramps , but she sat down by the little nameless thing , and looked from it to the arch of eternal stars that , summer and winter , seed-time and harvest , kept steadfast watch over it , and was very still . It is one of the standing grievances of her life that Amram , while never taking the trouble to go and look , insists upon it that was nothing but somebody 's pet dog . She knows better . On this particular night , Keturah , in coming up from the garden to return to the house , had a dim impression that something crossed the walk in front of her and disappeared among the rustling trees .