midnight
The young fellow , half unconscious indeed , put his head down upon her shoulder with a great shuddering sigh . `` I 'll be better in a minute , dear , '' he whispered . `` I reckon I got a little tired -- riding so far . '' For some time Judith sat there , Creed 's head on her shoulder , the black night all about them , the little lighted station empty save for the clicking of the telegraph instrument , and the footsteps of the station master who had opened up for the midnight train . She was desperately anxious and at a loss which way to turn . And yet through all her being there rolled a mighty undernote of joy . As to the dweller on the coast the voice of the sea is the undertone to all the sounds of man 's activities , so beneath all her virginal hesitancies , her half terror of what she had done , surged and sang the knowledge that Creed was hers , her avowed lover .