midnight
`` That is on their minds a great deal . '' `` The very best way to get close to a March hare , '' said the black-haired boy , `` is to take a reserved seat at the annual March-hare ball . '' Then the two brothers told this tale ; and Amos and Ann saw no reason for not believing it : -- `` Maybe nobody 's told you -LRB- For very few people know -RRB- What happens down in the meadow brown At the fall of the first March snow . `` A flute-note sounds on the midnight , Blown by a fairy boy , And the rabbits rush from the underbrush , All nearly mad with joy . `` Round and round in the wild wind , Faster and faster they prance ; The moon comes out and looks about , And laughs to see them dance . `` Cold frost covers their whiskers , But never their hind legs tire , And whenever a hare feels a flake on his ear , He leaps a full inch higher ! `` Harum-scarum and happy , They frolic the whole night through ; Maybe you 'll hear them dance , this year -LRB- Though very few mortals do -RRB- . ''