midnight
He strove to retrace his steps , but in vain . He called aloud . Not even an echo replied , and his voice died out in the empty vastness of surrounding space , like a pebble cast into a bottomless gulf ; then , down he sank , fainting , on the sand , alone , amid the eternal silence of the desert . At midnight he came to , in the arms of his faithful follower , Joe . The latter , uneasy at his master 's prolonged absence , had set out after him , easily tracing him by the clear imprint of his feet in the sand , and had found him lying in a swoon . `` What has been the matter , sir ? '' was the first inquiry .