twelve o’clock
Men and women , girls and boys of the lower class , and jovial young men , meet , after this manner , to enjoy St. John 's Eve . Still sounded the music , the swings were in motion , lamps hung out , whilst the new moon shone through the thick tree boughs . Toward midnight the noise died away ; only a blind peasant still scratched upon the three strings which were left on his violin ; some servant-girls wandered , arm-in-arm , with their sweethearts , and sang . At twelve o'clock all assembled about the well , and drank the clear , ice-cold water . From no great distance resounded , through the still night , a chorus of four manly voices . It was as if the wood gods sang in praise of the nymph of the well . Upon the hill all was now deserted and quiet .