midnight
At the end of a dreadful day she had turned with some contempt from the fine lady on the bed , who could not give birth to her child , and said simply , as if with the saying she washed her hands of the whole matter : `` She ai n't doin ' right . I reckon somethin' is wrong . '' William had ridden forth in the driving storm of snow and ice for the doctor , who lived ten miles distant across the mountain . And then the hours came and sat around the awful bed and would not pass , nor let even midnight come . Now and again the old scroll face peeped down at me with an expression of extreme terror . The firelight made a red mist over the dark walls and the steam of the herbs filled my nostrils with a sickening odor . At last there was an end of endurance ; the hours lifted their leaden wings and hurried away ; the old midwife changed to a dragon-faced butterfly , and I knew no more till the dawn and the snow spread a pale light over the world outside .